Fabrication of Efficient Nano-MnO_x/ACF Particle Electrodes and their Application in the Electrooxidation of m‑Cresol in the 3‑D Electrode System

Various metallic oxide nanoparticles supported on commercial activated carbon fibers (M/ACF) were fabricated and employed as particle electrodes to degrade aqueous m-cresol in (three-dimensional) 3-D electrochemical systems. It has been experimentally demonstrated that the ACF loaded with MnO_x exhibited relatively higher 3-D electrooxidation performance than other metallic oxides (FeO_x, CuO, and SnO₂). Several fabricated samples were characterized by N₂ adsorption, SEM, TEM, and so forth. The characterization results revealed that MnO_x on the ACF samples was mainly composed of MnO₂ and Mn₂O₃ nanoparticles, while the presence of MnO₂ might be beneficial for the 3-D electrooxidation. The experimental results proved that the optimal preparation techniques of Mn/ACF were as follows: active component loading: 6% and calcination temperatures: 450 °C, resulting in about average 70% TOC removal. The reaction mechanism was discussed: the electrooxidative degradation process of organic pollutants with MnO_x/ACF as particle electrodes was the synergistic effects of MnO_x nanomaterials and ACF functional groups.