Environmental applications of persulfate: Remediation of contaminated groundwater and soils

Abstract

Environmental remediation represents a major technological challenge due to the complexity of the environmental matrices and the high treatment cost. In recent years, in situ chemical oxidation technologies (ISCO) have shown a good cost/benefit ratio, which has favored their use in the degradation of several relevant environmental pollutants. In this context, persulfate-mediated processes are of relevant importance once persulfate can be activated in situ, promoting the formation of highly oxidative radical species. Persulfate-based treatments have been frequently reported in environmental remediation studies because they guarantee the effective degradation of pollutants without producing significant changes in the remediated matrix. Given these statements, this study aims to discuss the main ways of activating persulfate and the relevant applications in the remediation of groundwater and soils contaminated with resistant organic pollutants.