2026 • Israel • Student: Dror Education youth village

Naama Lahav

My name is Naama Lahav, a pupil at \”Dror Educational Campus\” High School in central Israel, where I studied chemistry. I participated in Tel Aviv University\’s program for gifted students. I was given several subjects to research, and I chose water purification because I\’ve heard about Stockholm Junior Water Prize, but eventually I have fallen in love with the subject itself, and I\’m seriously considering studying it in the future.

Contact WaterTank

Manager for Stockholm Junior Water Prize

Alia Baidoun

alia.baidoun@stockholmwaterfoundation.org

2026•Naama Lahav

Optimization of a Water Purification System Based on Manganese Oxide-Coated Activated Carbon by MnO2@AC Nano-Catalyst Formation for Water Decontamination Based on Sulfate Radical-Derived Degradation

This study aims to evaluate the catalytic activity of manganese oxide (MnO2) in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) based on the generation of sulfate radicals (SO4•-) on an activated carbon (AC) substrate. This research demonstrates dual degradation mechanism, based on ‘bait, hook and destroy’ theory (Alvarez et al. 2018), while the AC can attract organic pollutants close to its surface, thereby enabling the SO4•- to degrade them efficiently. The objective of this work was to determine which conditions are optimal for producing a stable and efficient and robust MnO2@AC catalyst, as well as the effect the synthesis procedure on catalytic performance. A comparison of two different coating methods showed that a two-step coating method is more efficient. In addition, a thermal…

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