catalytic ozonation of phenol using copper coated pumice and zeolite as catalysts

background: catalytic ozonation has recently been applied as a new method of contaminant removal from water and wastewater. in this study, copper coated pumice and zeolite were used to catalyze the ozonation of phenol as a target pollutant from aqueous solutions. methods: the pumice and zeolite stone were modified by cuso 4 (1n). modified pumice and zeolite were characterized by adsorption/desorption porosimetry (bet) and scanning electron microscope analyses. ozonation and catalytic ozonation experiments were performed in a 1 l semi-batch reactor containing a prepared phenol solution. the efficiency of catalytic ozonation was investigated by different variables: ph value, contact time, initial phenol concentration, catalyst dose, and radical scavenger. results: experimental data indicated that as the ph solution increased, phenol removal increased. ph = 8 was measured as the optimum ph. the removal efficiency in single ozonation process (sop) was 32% and in the catalytic ozonation process (cop) using modified zeolite and pumice was 51% and 63%, respectively. moreover, these processes showed a great ability to mineralize phenol (up to 30%). using the radical scavenger determined the indirect oxidation as the main pathway of phenol removal in both catalytic processes. conclusion: the copper modified zeolite and pumice had good performance to remove phenol through catalytic ozonation method.