Persulfate (PS) activated by thermal or homogeneous metals can generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) and high-valence-state metals for contaminants degradation, showing great potential for applications. However, thermal effect in peroxymonosulfate (PMS) system with high-valence-state metal is still ambiguous. In this study, divalent copper (Cu(II)) catalysis was taken to explore thermal effect on PMS performance. Results showed that the Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) removal efficiency in the Cu(II)/PMS system at 60 min increased by only 5.9% with temperature increase from 30 °C to 60 °C. Moreover, SMX removal efficiency was excellent at neutral or basic pH, best with PMS concentration of 2.4 mM, and slightly affected by Cu(II) concentration. The singlet oxygen (¹O₂) was identified as main active species at low temperature while sulfate radicals (SO₄⁻) was more effective at high temperature with Cu(II) co-activation. Also, trivalent copper (Cu(III)) was an important active species. The higher Cu(III) content, the better SMX removal efficiency, but the stronger intermediates toxicity. In combination with removal efficiency and intermediates toxicity at different temperatures, 30 °C was the optimal reaction temperature. Overall, this study provides new perspective on utilization of waste heat and high-valence-state metal for organic wastewater treatment in PMS systems.

被热或均质金属激活的过硫酸盐 (PS) 可以产生活性氧 (ROS) 和高价态金属，用于污染物降解，显示出巨大的应用潜力。然而，具有高价态金属的过氧单硫酸盐（PMS）系统的热效应仍然不明确。在这项研究中，采用二价铜 (Cu(II)) 催化来探索热对 PMS 性能的影响。结果表明，随着温度从 30 °C 升高到 60 °C，Cu(II)/PMS 系统中的磺胺甲恶唑 (SMX) 去除效率在 60 分钟时仅增加了 5.9%。此外，SMX 去除效率在中性或碱性 pH 值下非常好，PMS 浓度为 2.4 mM 时效果最佳，并且受 Cu(II) 浓度的影响较小。单线态氧 ( ¹ O ₂) 被确定为低温下的主要活性物质，而硫酸根 (SO ₄ ^- ) 在高温下与 Cu(II) 共活化更有效。此外，三价铜 (Cu(III)) 是一种重要的活性物质。Cu(III)含量越高，SMX去除效果越好，但中间体毒性越强。结合不同温度下的去除效率和中间体毒性，30 °C 是最佳反应温度。总的来说，这项研究为在 PMS 系统中利用余热和高价态金属处理有机废水提供了新的视角。