Catalytic ozonation of phenol by magnetic Mn0.7Ce0.3Ox/CNT@Fe3C

A high-efficient and stable catalyst is highly desired to catalyze ozone for refractory organic pollutants removal. In this work, Mn-Ce bimetallic oxide loaded CNT@Fe3C (Mn0.7Ce0.3Ox/CNT@Fe3C) was synthesized with Mn0.7Ce0.3Ox as the active component and magnetic CNT@Fe3C as the support. The catalytic performance of Mn0.7Ce0.3Ox/CNT@Fe3C towards catalytic ozonation was evaluated. The TOC removal efficiency of phenol degradation after 45 min of reaction was 98%, which was 1.5 times and 1.8 times that of monometallic CeO2/CNT@Fe3C (65%) and MnxOy/CNT@Fe3C (54%), respectively. The synthesized-Mn0.7Ce0.3Ox/CNT@Fe3C possessed good reusability during five successive cycles and remained efficient over a wide range of pH 4.2–8.3. The results of EPR measurements and quenching experiments demonstrated that hydroxyl radicals (·OH) were the dominant reactive oxidation species (ROS) for phenol mineralization in the Mn0.7Ce0.3Ox/CNT@Fe3C/O3 system. Moreover, the magnetic Mn0.7Ce0.3Ox/CNT@Fe3C is easily recovered and reused.