Cement granulation preparation of FeCe@Cement using fly ash cenospheres and its enhancing mechanism on catalytic ozonation

FeCe@Cement is prepared by cement granulation of fly ash cenospheres. • Rate constant of BTA degradation in FeCe@Cement/O 3 is 3.35 times than O 3 alone. • FeCe bimetal promotes the generation of •OH, O 2 •− , and 1 O 2 as primary ROS. • FeCe@Cement shows a superior stability and reusability. Developing highly efficient and stable millimeter-scale ozone (O 3 ) catalysts is urgent yet challenging endeavor. Herein, a novel FeCe bimetallic cement-based catalyst (FeCe@Cement) was fabricated from fly ash cenospheres and cement, which achieves near-complete degradation of 1H-benzotriazole (BTA) within 9 min under optimal conditions, with an apparent rate constant (0.77 min −1 ) 3.35 times that of O 3 alone. The introduction of FeCe bimetal synergistically boosts the generation of hydroxyl radical (•OH), superoxide (O 2 •− ) and single oxygen ( 1 O 2 ), collectively dominating BTA oxidation. Notably, FeCe@Cement exhibits good catalytic stability and low metal leaching, maintaining high activity after five cycles of repeated experiments. In actual wastewater treatment, the FeCe@Cement/O 3 system achieved a chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of up to 75%, which is much higher than the commercial O 3 catalytic materials. The finding advances the design of cost-effective, scalable cement-based catalytic materials, offering both mechanistic insights into reactive oxygen species (ROS) promotion and a practical pathway for refractory pollutant abatement. Download: Download high-res image (135KB) Download: Download full-size image