Domino effect enables dynamic electronic structure evolution for stable and efficient water purification.
8 affiliations
- 1Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment (Jilin University), Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
- 2Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
- 3School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China.
- 4Centre for Environment and Energy Research, Ghent University Global Campus, Incheon, South Korea.
- 5Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, and Centre for Advanced Process Technology for Urban Resource Recovery, Ghent, Belgium.
- 6Engineering Lab for Water Pollution Control and Resources Recovery of Jilin Province, School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
- 7Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment (Jilin University), Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, China. [email protected].
- 8Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, China. [email protected].
Abstract
The purification of water contaminated by persistent organic pollutants remains a critical global challenge, largely due to the intrinsic trade-off between high catalytic activity and long-term stability in advanced oxidation processes. Despite the tremendous potential of single-atom catalysis, its traditional static design strategies cannot adapt to dynamic and multi-step reactions. Here, we break the limitation of this static design by reporting a domino catalysis within a heteronuclear MgCo dual-single-atom catalyst. In this system, the Mg site selectively photoreduces O₂ to H₂O₂ under light irradiation. This in-situ generated H₂O₂ and its derived surface hydroxyl groups act as dynamic modulators, progressively tailoring the electronic structure of the adjacent Co site. This on-demand electronic refinement optimally lowers the energy barriers for subsequent peroxymonosulfate activation and radical desorption, thereby driving efficient pollutant degradation while intrinsically stabilizing the Co center against leaching. Experiments and theoretical calculations elucidate that this seamless and spatially ordered cascade avoids competitive adsorption and maximizes efficiency. The system exhibits the highest normalized rate constant of 595.3 min⁻¹ M⁻¹ among various refractory contaminants over thirty regeneration cycles, outperforming the most state-of-the-art catalytic systems. This work introduces a dynamic and self-evolving catalytic approach that breaks the traditional activity-stability trade-off, suggesting a potential pathway toward effective and sustainable water purification technologies.
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BibTeX
@article{jiang2026domino,
title = {{Domino effect enables dynamic electronic structure evolution for stable and efficient water purification.}},
author = {Jingjing Jiang and Chang He and Shengda Liu and Tongze Sun and Bowen Zhao and Ruixin Wang and Yanan Zhang and Zhenhao Zhao and Xuesong Ye and Hao Yu and Yifang Fu and Yanan Liu and Di Wu and Mingxin Huo and Dandan Zhou and Shuangshi Dong},
journal = {Nature communications},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-78263-9},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42957754},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Domino effect enables dynamic electronic structure evolution for stable and efficient water purification.
AU - Jingjing Jiang
AU - Chang He
AU - Shengda Liu
AU - Tongze Sun
AU - Bowen Zhao
AU - Ruixin Wang
AU - Yanan Zhang
AU - Zhenhao Zhao
AU - Xuesong Ye
AU - Hao Yu
AU - Yifang Fu
AU - Yanan Liu
AU - Di Wu
AU - Mingxin Huo
AU - Dandan Zhou
AU - Shuangshi Dong
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/29
JO - Nature communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-78263-9
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42957754
AB - The purification of water contaminated by persistent organic pollutants remains a critical global challenge, largely due to the intrinsic trade-off between high catalytic activity and long-term stability in advanced oxidation processes. Despite the tremendous potential of single-atom catalysis, its traditional static design strategies cannot adapt to dynamic and multi-step reactions. Here, we break the limitation of this static design by reporting a domino catalysis within a heteronuclear MgCo dual-single-atom catalyst. In this system, the Mg site selectively photoreduces O₂ to H₂O₂ under light irradiation. This in-situ generated H₂O₂ and its derived surface hydroxyl groups act as dynamic modulators, progressively tailoring the electronic structure of the adjacent Co site. This on-demand electronic refinement optimally lowers the energy barriers for subsequent peroxymonosulfate activation and radical desorption, thereby driving efficient pollutant degradation while intrinsically stabilizing the Co center against leaching. Experiments and theoretical calculations elucidate that this seamless and spatially ordered cascade avoids competitive adsorption and maximizes efficiency. The system exhibits the highest normalized rate constant of 595.3 min⁻¹ M⁻¹ among various refractory contaminants over thirty regeneration cycles, outperforming the most state-of-the-art catalytic systems. This work introduces a dynamic and self-evolving catalytic approach that breaks the traditional activity-stability trade-off, suggesting a potential pathway toward effective and sustainable water purification technologies.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -