Transition metal/carbon composite catalysts can effectively activate persulfate (PMS) to degrade organic pollutants. In this study, a simple pyrolysis method successfully transformed a composite hydrogeladsorbent that had adsorbed Cu(II) into a zerovalent copper/carbon composite catalyst (C-Cu), which efficiently activated PMS and rapidly degraded 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). Under conditions of pH 5, 5 mg of C-Cu dosage, and PMS concentration of 0.20 g·L-1, 2,4-DCP (0.1 mmol·L-1) was completely removed within 5 minutes, with a reaction kinetic constant as high as 3.434 2 min-1, an increase of 3 orders of magnitude over reported metal oxides. In compliance with the "Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard "( GB8978-1996), the first-level standard, C-Cu can stably operate for 81.3 hours in a column dynamic reactor. Under the coexistence conditions of pH 5-9, conventional inorganic salts, and natural organic matter, the degradation of 2,4-DCP in the C-Cu/PMS system was not significantly inhibited, demonstrating good environmental tolerance. Moreover, the C-Cu/PMS system showed superior removal effects for various chlorophenol pollutants. Quenching experiments of active species and EPR test results consistently indicated that zerovalent copper serves as the activation site for PMS, generating a large amount of 1O2 and ·O2-. LC-MS analysis results suggested that 2,4-DCP undergoes processes such as dechlorination and ring-opening for degradation and mineralization. This research provides new insights for the resourceful utilization of hydrogel adsorbents and presents a novel approach for the development and application of cost-effective metal/carbon composite catalysts.