Developing advanced heterogeneous catalysts with atomically
dispersed
active sites is an efficient strategy to boost the kinetics of peroxymonosulfate
(PMS) activation for micropollutant removal. Here, we report a binary
Mo2TiC2T
x
MXene-based
electroactive filter system with abundant surface Mo vacancies for
effective activation of PMS. The Mo vacancies assumed two essential
roles: (i) as anchoring sites for Fe single atoms (Fe-SA) and (ii)
as cocatalytic sites for the Fenton-like reaction. Fe-SA formed strong
metal–oxygen bonds with the Mo2TiC2T
x
support, stabilizing at the sites previously
occupied by Mo. The resulting Fe-SA/Mo2TiC2T
x
nanohybrid filter achieved 100% degradation
of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in the single-pass mode (hydraulic retention
time <2 s) when assisted by an electric field (2.0 V). The rate
constant (k = 2.89 min–1) for SMX
removal was 24 and 67 times greater than that of Fe nanoparticles
immobilized on Mo2TiC2T
x
and the pristine Mo2TiC2T
x
filter, respectively. Operation in the flow-through configuration
outperformed the conventional batch reactor model (k = 0.17 min–1) due to convection-enhanced mass
transport. The results obtained from experimental investigations and
theoretical calculations suggested that atomically dispersed Fe-SA,
anchored on Mo vacancies, was responsible for the adsorption and activation
of PMS to produce sulfate radicals (SO4
•–) in the presence of an electric field. This study provides a proof-of-concept
demonstration of an electroactive Fe-SA/Mo2TiC2T
x
filter for broader application in
the treatment of water contaminated by emerging micropollutants.