Magneto-electronic regulation-driven spin polarization for enhanced electrochemical ozone production

Electrochemical ozone production (EOP) for organic pollutant degradation represents a sustainable paradigm for refractory wastewater treatment. Nevertheless, the slow kinetics of EOP at the anode remains a major bottleneck for practical applications. Here, a heterojunction electrocatalyst with SnO 2 -Ni-Sb active layer and inner Fe 3 O 4 layer is developed. By integrating the exchange bias effect and built-in electric field, this electrocatalyst achieves a synergistic enhancement in the EOP performance, which is further applied to the degradation of organic pollutants. The built-in electric field induced by the Fe 3 O 4 /SnO 2 -Ni-Sb heterojunction can effectively facilitate interfacial charge and accelerate electron transfer dynamics. Meanwhile, interfacial coupling of Fe 3 O 4 and SnO 2 -Ni-Sb enables spin polarization transfer to the active layer, optimizing oxygen intermediate spin state. Benefiting from these advantages, the electrocatalyst produces 6.21 mg·L −1 of ozone in 0.2 mol·L −1 H 2 SO 4 at 60 mA·cm −2 and removes more than 90% of various pollutants within 40 min, representing a marked improvement over the SnO 2 -Ni-Sb electrocatalyst. Moreover, density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that the Fe 3 O 4 /SnO 2 -Ni-Sb electrocatalyst reduces the energy barrier for EOP and optimizes the adsorption of pivotal oxygen-containing intermediates. This work offers a novel strategy for the design of advanced anodic electrocatalysts aimed at green ozone generation and environmental remediation.