Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
and Hg adversely affect the health
of communities in coal-based economies in countries that depend on
coal-fired power plants. In this study, biochar with incorporated
Mn–Fe oxide composite was synthesized by co-ball milling of
metal ions and biomass, followed by in situ pyrolysis carbonization
and oxidation. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) result shows
that the generated metal oxides were incorporated into the biochar
matrix rather than being physically deposited. By avoiding wet impregnation
in the MnFe loading process, abundant functional groups were preserved
on the surface of the materials. MnFe oxide homogeneity and dispersion
on biochar were effectively promoted by mechanochemical synthesis
for 4 h and showed high Mn and Fe oxidation states and a large amount
of Lewis acid of 56.47 mol/g. Effectively promoted by these properties,
the Mn–Fe oxides/biochar composite efficiently purified Hg0 and VOC by adsorption and catalytic oxidation from simulated
coal-fired flue gas. The mutual inhibitory effect between Hg0 and o-xylene is pounced at high reaction temperatures
when catalytic oxidation dominated. The mechanochemical strategy endowed
the Mn–Fe oxides/biochar composite with strong magnetic properties,
showing a saturation magnetization of 24.33 emu/g, which enabled 100%
separation of the material from coal-fired fly ash.