Catalytic Ozonation of Ammonia Nitrogen to Nitrogen by Manganese-Loaded Powdered Activated Coke

Liu, Mengning; Ma, Huiru; Huang, Fuyu; Chen, Guifang; Li, Zhanyao; Zhang, Liqiang; Chen, Shouyan; Zhou, Ping

doi:10.3390/w18010049

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Catalytic Ozonation of Ammonia Nitrogen to Nitrogen by Manganese-Loaded Powdered Activated Coke

by

Mengning Liu

^†,

Huiru Ma

^†,

Fuyu Huang

,

Guifang Chen

^*,

Zhanyao Li

,

Liqiang Zhang

,

Shouyan Chen

and

Ping Zhou

National Engineering Laboratory for Reducing Emissions from Coal Combustion, Engineering Research Center of Environmental Thermal Technology, Ministry of Education, Shandong Key Laboratory of Energy Carbon Reduction and Resource Utilization, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Water 2026, 18(1), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18010049

Submission received: 25 November 2025 / Revised: 17 December 2025 / Accepted: 19 December 2025 / Published: 23 December 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Wastewater Treatment and Reuse)

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Abstract

Activated carbon has shown good catalytic performance in water treatment, but its wide application is limited by its high price. Activated coke exhibits functional groups and is low-cost. However, there is limited research on activated coke as a catalyst. In our previous study, powdered activated coke (PAC) exhibited good catalytic performance in NH₃-N treatment with ozonation. Increasing nitrogen selectivity is the key to harmless degradation of NH₃-N, which has received little attention. In this paper, manganese-loaded powdered coke (Mn–PAC) was prepared, aiming to further improve the nitrogen selectivity. Under the same conditions, the PAC/O₃ system achieved 92.16% NH₃-N removal and 49.46% nitrogen selectivity, while the Mn–PAC/O₃ system achieved almost 100% NH₃-N removal and 79.31% N₂ selectivity. When Mn–PAC was reused for the sixth time, the system achieved about 70% and 46% NH₃-N removal and N₂ selectivity, both of which were about 10% higher than those of PAC. Complex redox and synergistic interactions existed in the Mn–PAC/O₃ system. The Mn–PAC surface contains reactive sites such as C=C, C=O, π–π bonds, ArOH, and various MnO_x. These components collectively facilitate ozone decomposition into ·OH, ·O₂⁻, and ¹O₂. The ¹O₂ may play a significant role in converting NH₃-N to N₂.

Keywords: ammonia nitrogen; catalytic ozonation; manganese-loaded powdered coke; nitrogen selectivity; nitrate nitrogen

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MDPI and ACS Style

Liu, M.; Ma, H.; Huang, F.; Chen, G.; Li, Z.; Zhang, L.; Chen, S.; Zhou, P. Catalytic Ozonation of Ammonia Nitrogen to Nitrogen by Manganese-Loaded Powdered Activated Coke. Water 2026, 18, 49. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18010049

AMA Style

Liu M, Ma H, Huang F, Chen G, Li Z, Zhang L, Chen S, Zhou P. Catalytic Ozonation of Ammonia Nitrogen to Nitrogen by Manganese-Loaded Powdered Activated Coke. Water. 2026; 18(1):49. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18010049

Chicago/Turabian Style

Liu, Mengning, Huiru Ma, Fuyu Huang, Guifang Chen, Zhanyao Li, Liqiang Zhang, Shouyan Chen, and Ping Zhou. 2026. "Catalytic Ozonation of Ammonia Nitrogen to Nitrogen by Manganese-Loaded Powdered Activated Coke" Water 18, no. 1: 49. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18010049

APA Style

Liu, M., Ma, H., Huang, F., Chen, G., Li, Z., Zhang, L., Chen, S., & Zhou, P. (2026). Catalytic Ozonation of Ammonia Nitrogen to Nitrogen by Manganese-Loaded Powdered Activated Coke. Water, 18(1), 49. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18010049

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Catalytic Ozonation of Ammonia Nitrogen to Nitrogen by Manganese-Loaded Powdered Activated Coke

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