With the emergence of emerging pollutants in water, water pollution becomes more and more serious. Under this background, persulfate based advanced oxidation process has attracted wide attention because of its high treatment efficiency and low secondary pollution. In this paper, the research progresses of persulfate activation by heat, light, electricity, microwave, ultrasound, transition metals, alkali, carbon materials, organic matter, etc. were reviewed. Specifically, the mechanisms of different activation methods have been introduced, the treatment result of each activation system and the influencing factors in the reaction process were expounded, and the future development of persulfate activation technology was prospected for reference.