The superior catalytic efficiency of ruthenium (Ru)-based nanocomposites in advanced oxidation processes for water decontamination has attracted accumulating attention worldwide. However, rather limited knowledge is currently available regarding their roles in activating periodate (PI), an emerging oxidant with versatile environmental applications. This study firstly delineated that Ru-supported Co₃O₄ (Ru/Co₃O₄), a typical Ru-based nanomaterial, can efficiently accomplish PI activation to eliminate multiple organic micropollutants and inactivate different pathogenic bacteria. Almost all eight micropollutants can be completely removed within 2 min of Ru/Co₃O₄-PI oxidation except sulfamethoxazole (SMX), which was degraded ∼70 % at 2 min with 100 % mineralization after 10 min. The excellent catalytic performance was independent of PI dosages, initial pH, and coexisting water constituents, demonstrating its prominent capability as a selective oxidation strategy. Diverse lines of evidence indicated the dominant role of single oxygen in the Ru/Co₃O₄-PI system, which triggered the generation of five transformation products of SMX with reduced environmental risks. Concurrently, PI was stoichiometrically converted to the eco-friendly IO₃^-. Additionally, Ru/Co₃O₄-PI system achieved 6-log inactivation of different pathogenic bacteria within 1 min, implying the feasibility of rapid water disinfection. Overall, this work demonstrated the excellent promise of Ru-based composites in PI activation for highly efficient and selective water decontamination.

钌（Ru）基纳米复合材料在水净化高级氧化过程中的优异催化效率已引起全世界的关注。然而，目前关于它们在激活高碘酸盐 (PI) 中的作用的知识相当有限，PI 是一种具有多种环境应用的新兴氧化剂。本研究首次阐明了典型的Ru基纳米材料Ru负载Co ₃ O ₄ (Ru/Co ₃ O ₄ )可以有效地完成PI活化，从而消除多种有机微污染物，灭活不同的病原菌。_{Ru/Co 3} O ₄ 2分钟内几乎可以完全去除所有八种微污染物-PI 氧化，除了磺胺甲恶唑 (SMX)，它在 2 分钟内降解 ∼70%，在 10 分钟后矿化 100%。优异的催化性能与 PI 剂量、初始 pH 值和共存的水成分无关，证明了其作为选择性氧化策略的突出能力。不同的证据表明，单一氧在 Ru/Co ₃ O ₄ -PI 体系中起主导作用，它引发了五种 SMX 转化产物的产生，降低了环境风险。同时，PI被化学计量转化为环保的IO ₃ ^-。此外，Ru/Co ₃ O ₄-PI系统在1分钟内实现了对不同病原菌的6-log灭活，暗示了快速水消毒的可行性。总体而言，这项工作证明了钌基复合材料在 PI 活化中用于高效和选择性水净化的卓越前景。