Advanced Fe-doped carbon xerogels as bifunctional electro-catalysts for targeted hydroxyl radical production and superior electro-Fenton pollutant removal in water Ramírez Valencia, Lilian Daniela Bailón García, Esther Carrasco Marín, Francisco Álvarez Merino, Miguel Ángel Pérez Cadenas, Agustín Francisco Bifunctional Hydrothermal iron carbide Encapsulation Electro-Fenton Hydroxyl radicals Bifunctional catalysts for H2O2 production via oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and OH• generation via Fenton reaction are fundamental for the development and optimization of Electro-Fenton technology. In this context, Fedoped carbon xerogels have been synthesized by sol-gel polymerization under hydrothermal conditions, which allowed the efficient encapsulation of iron nanoparticles (Fe3C-type crystalline species) within the carbon matrix. This strategy enabled control over the selectivity of the materials towards a three-electron pathway, favoring the direct production of hydroxyl radicals (OH• ). Moreover, a good balance between graphitization degree and micro-mesoporous structure resulted in high electrochemical performance in ORR, reaching a kinetic current density as high as 11.56 mA/cm2 at − 0.45 V and 32.66 mA/cm2 at − 0.80 V. This remarkable performance was reflected in Electro-Fenton experiments, achieving 94% degradation of tetracycline after 8 h, demonstrating the bifunctional effectiveness of the synthesized catalysts. 2025-07-24T07:46:11Z 2025-07-24T07:46:11Z 2025-07-02 journal article Ramírez-Valencia, L. D., Bailón-García, E., Carrasco-Marín, F., Álvarez-Merino, M. A., & Pérez-Cadenas, A. F. (2025). Advanced Fe-doped carbon xerogels as bifunctional electro-catalysts for targeted hydroxyl radical production and superior electro-Fenton pollutant removal in water. Chemical Engineering Journal, 519(165565), 165565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.165565 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/105607 10.1016/j.cej.2025.165565 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Elsevier