Reaction kinetics and mass transfer synergistically enhanced the electrochemical oxidation performance of porous SiC/Ta/BDD electrodes in a flow-through reactor.

Integrating superior interfacial kinetics with enhanced mass transfer is crucial for advancing electrochemical advanced oxidation processes. However, porous boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes often suffer from high inherent interfacial resistance on ceramic substrates continuously. Herein, we report a highly efficient flow-through oxidation system utilizing a novel 3D porous p-SiC/Ta/BDD electrode. By introducing a sputtered Ta conductive interlayer, the charge transfer barrier is significantly diminished, yielding an enlarged electrochemically active area and accelerated ·OH generation kinetics. To fully harness this intrinsic kinetic gain, a flow-through reactor configuration was utilized. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) confirms that the directed flow structurally induces a > 3-fold increase in turbulent kinetic energy and vorticity within the porous framework, activating previously dormant deep catalytic sites and boosting the ·OH-pollutant collision probability. Benefiting from this kinetics-mass transfer synergy, the flow-through p-SiC/Ta/BDD system delivers a 98.7% rapid removal of metronidazole. Impressively, it exhibits a reaction rate constant of 0.074 min-1, 2.24 times that of traditional p-SiC/BDD batch systems, at an ultra-low energy consumption of 1.59 kWh m-3 order-1. Furthermore, the electrode demonstrates remarkable universal applicability toward multi-class organic pollutants (tetracycline, acid orange G), outstanding chemical resistance against complex inorganic anions, and long-term durability. This work provides an innovative interfacial engineering and hydrodynamic integration strategy for sustainable refractory wastewater treatment.