Various organic contaminants accumulated in the environment pose great threat to ecosystems and human health. Sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) have attracted increasing attention for the removal of these contaminants in recent years. Iron species, including ferrous and ferric iron, zero-valent iron, iron oxides and oxyhydroxides, iron sulfides and various supported iron catalysts, as known to be effective in activating persulfate (PS) or peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to generate sulfate radicals. This review is dedicated to summarize the up-to-date research progresses of iron-mediated activation of PS and PMS mediated by these iron-based species in both homogeneous and heterogeneous ways. The activators are categorized based on their chemistry and the up-to-date knowledge regarding the activation mechanisms are summarized and discussed. Then, a summary of frequently-used synthesis methods of heterogeneous iron catalysts is presented. In addition, the effects of anions, solution pH, dissolved oxygen, and external energy on the activation processes are discussed. Finally, future research perspectives on the iron-based PS/PMS activation method are proposed and how to further improve such a technology for practical application are also discussed.

累积在环境中的各种有机污染物对生态系统和人类健康构成了巨大威胁。近年来，基于硫酸根的高级氧化工艺（SR-AOP）越来越受到关注，这些杂质的去除方法也是如此。已知有效激活过硫酸盐（PS）或过氧一硫酸盐（PMS）产生硫酸根的铁物种，包括亚铁和三价铁，零价铁，氧化铁和羟基氧化铁，硫化铁和各种负载的铁催化剂。这篇综述专门总结了铁介导的这些铁基物质介导的PS和PMS活化的最新研究进展，包括均相和异相两种方式。根据活化剂的化学性质对活化剂进行分类，并总结和讨论有关活化机理的最新知识。然后，总结了多相铁催化剂的常用合成方法。此外，还讨论了阴离子，溶液pH值，溶解氧和外部能量对活化过程的影响。最后，提出了基于铁的PS / PMS激活方法的未来研究观点，并讨论了如何进一步改进该技术的实际应用。