MnO₂-based capacitive system enhances ozone inactivation of bacteria by disrupting cell membrane

The application of ozone (O₃) disinfection has been hindered by its low solubility in water and the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs). In this study, capacitive disinfection is applied as a pre-treatment for O₃ oxidation, in which manganese dioxide with a rambutan-like hollow spherical structure is used as the electrode to increase the charge density on the electrode surface. When a voltage is applied, the negative-charged microbes are attracted to the electrodes and killed by electrical interactions. The contact between microbes and capacitive electrodes leads to changes in cell permeability and burst of reactive oxygen species, thereby promoting the diffusion of O₃ into the cells. After O₃ penetrates the cell membrane, it can directly attack the cytoplasmic constituents, accelerating fatal and irreversible damage to pathogens. As a result, the performance of the capacitance-O₃ process is proved better than the direct sum of the two individual process efficiencies. The design of capacitance-O₃ system is beneficial to reduce the ozone dosage and DBPs with a broader inactivation spectrum, which is conducive to the application of ozone in primary water disinfection.