Intrinsic strain of defect sites steering chlorination reaction for water purification

Abstract Carbon nanotube (CT)–based chemical technologies particular in heterogenous advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) used for water purification, have been exploited over the several decades. Many strategies of CT modification have been exploited to improve the catalytic performance in the remediation processes. However, the strain fields of intrinsic defect sites on CT steering AOPs (such as chlorination) have never been reported. Here we for the first time explored the strained defect sites steering chlorination process onto high–efficient and green abatement of 2,4–dichlorophenol. Characterizations and theory analysis unveil that the strained defect sites with the elongated sp2 hybridized C–C bond displaying the larger spin–lattice relaxation boost electronic reactivity with chlorine molecules via the initial Yeager–type adsorption. As a result, the amounts and catalogs of reactive species in our chlorination are tunable on demand, such as the ratio of high–selectivity ClO• ranging from 38.8% in pure defects–based system to 87.5% in strain dominated process, which result in generating the harmless intermediates and even deep mineralization of organic. Thus, this work highlights the vital role of the strain fields on steering chlorination reaction for greener water purification even beyond.