Efficient catalytic ozonation of diclofenac by three-dimensional iron (Fe)-doped SBA-16 mesoporous structures

The removal of diclofenac (DCF) that causes risks to the environment and human health remains a great challenge due to the inefficiency of conventional physical methods. In this work, an efficient catalytic ozonation of DCF is achieved from a novel iron-doped SBA-16 (Fe-SBA-16) three-dimensional (3D) mesoporous structure. The Fe-SBA-16/ozonation (O₃) system exhibits enhanced catalytic activity towards DCF mineralization (up to 79.3% in 1.5 h), which is 1.2 times of its counterpart, Fe-MCM-41, and 2.4 times of the sole ozonation without catalysts. The unique 3D mesoporous structures accelerate the mass transfer and meanwhile result in higher ozone utilization efficiency for more effective generation of active species, hence enhancing the DCF mineralization efficiency. We believe the well-defined Fe-SBA-16 catalyst coupled with their enhanced catalytic ozonation performances will provide new insights into the construction of mesoporous structured materials to eliminate hazards in aqueous solutions for the environment remediation.