Mechanism of heterogeneous catalytic ozonation of nitrobenzene in aqueous solution with modified ceramic honeycomb

The degradation efficiencies of nitrobenzene in aqueous solution were investigated by semi-continuous experiments in the processes of ozone alone, ozone/ceramic honeycomb (CH) and ozone/modified ceramic honeycomb (MCH). MCH with 1.0% Mn and 0.5% Cu had more pronounced catalytic ability than CH to accelerate the degradation of nitrobenzene, to increase the utilization efficiency of ozone, to improve the concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) formation and hydroxyl radical ({radical dot}OH) initiation, and to enhance the removal efficiency of TOC. The modification process of CH with the metals enhanced the density of surface hydroxyl groups, which determines the initiation of {radical dot}OH from ozone decomposition and the generation of intermediate species on heterogeneous catalytic surface, yielding the acceleration of the degradation of nitrobenzene in aqueous solution. Possible reaction mechanism of ozone with heterogeneous catalytic surface in aqueous solution was proposed, and the formation mechanism of H₂O₂ and {radical dot}OH was also discussed according to the combined reactions in heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic systems.