Catalytic mineralization of phenol by CuO-H₂O₂ at neutral pH

By taking phenol as a model substrate, the influences of different factors on its mineralization with CuO-H₂O₂ were investigated in neutral solution at atmospheric pressure. Peroxide mineralization index (X) and mineralization half-life (t_1/2) were adopted. Total organic carbon (TOC) removal and oxidant decomposing rules were also investigated to analyze the catalytic mineralization. The results show that the different degrees of accelerations on TOC removal are observed, and shorter t_1/2 can be obtained with the increasing of temperature, the concentrations of catalyst, oxidant and initial TOC. X increases first and then decreases with the increasing of temperature, oxidant concentration. However, X increases and decreases respectively with the initial TOC and catalysis concentrations. Hydroxyl radical oxidation mechanism was proposed to elucidate the mineralization. UV-Vis indicates that phenol is oxidized to some medium products, and then mineralized to CO₂ and H₂O.