Comparative experiments were conducted to investigate the catalytic ability of MnOx/SBA-15 for the ozonation of clofibric acid (CA) and its reaction mechanism. Compared with ozonation alone, the degradation of CA was barely enhanced, while the removal of TOC was significantly improved by catalytic ozonation (O-3/MnOx/SBA-15). Adsorption of CA and its intermediates by MnOx/SBA-15 was proved unimportant in O-3/MnOx/SBA-15 due to the insignificant adsorption of CA and little TOC variation after ceasing ozone in stopped-flow experiment. The more remarkably inhibition effect of sodium bisulfite (NaHSO3) on the removal of TOC in catalytic ozonation than in ozonation alone elucidated that MnOx/SBA-15 facilitated the generation of hydroxyl radicals ((OH)-O-center dot), which was further verified by electron spin-resonance spectroscopy (ESR). Highly dispersed MnOx on SBA-15 were believed to be the main active component in MnOx/SBA-15. Some intermediates were indentified and different degradation routes of CA were proposed in both ozonation alone and catalytic ozonation. The amounts of small molecular carboxylic acids (i.e., formic acid (FA), acetic acid (AA) and oxalic acid (OA)) generated in catalytic ozonation were lower than in zonation alone, resulting from the generation of more (OH)-O-center dot. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.