In this study, CuZnFe-LDH was synthesized by a solvothermal method using analytical-grade chemicals and applied as a catalyst for PMS activation to degrade Reactive Blue 19 (RB19) in water. Material characteristics related to surface morphology, elemental composition, crystal structure, functional groups, specific surface area, and surface chemical states were analyzed using SEM/EDX, XRD, FT-IR, BET, and XPS techniques. Specifically, the specific surface area of CuZnFe-LDH, determined from N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, was 49.53 m2/g, with a pore volume of 0.093 cm3/g and an average pore diameter of 7.55 nm. The effects of PMS dosage, catalyst dosage, RB19 concentration, pH, and inorganic anions on PMS activation were investigated. The selected operating conditions were determined to be [RB19] = 50 mg/L, [CuZnFe-LDH] = 200 mg/L, pH = 7, and [PMS] = 200 mg/L, under which the degradation efficiency of RB19 reached 99.85 % within 12 min. Furthermore, the CuZnFe-LDH/PMS system exhibited the ability to effectively degrade different dyes, including MO, R3BS, and BBRF, while also showing positive results in the treatment of biologically treated real textile wastewater in terms of color and COD removal. The quenching results suggested that SO₄•⁻ made the greatest contribution to RB19 degradation, with additional contributions from O2·− and ·OH. After five consecutive reuse cycles, small amounts of Cu and Zn were leached into the solution, whereas Fe was not detected; correspondingly, the RB19 degradation efficiency decreased by approximately 22.6 %, indicating the relatively good stability and reusability of CuZnFe-LDH under the investigated conditions. In future work, post-reaction catalyst characterization should be conducted to evaluate catalyst stability and clarify the specific roles of individual metals in the multi-metal LDH-based system. Additionally, mass spectrometry analyses are required to identify the degradation pathways of RB19 and assess the toxicity of the resulting intermediates. Overall, ternary LDH-based catalysts demonstrate promising potential for application in sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes for the removal of organic pollutants from water. Copyright © 2026 by Authors, Published by BCREC Publishing Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
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