Promoted ozonation for the decomposition of 1,4-dioxane by activated carbon

Abstract

Worldwide attention has been attracted to 1,4-dioxane because of its probable human carcinogenicity and frequent occurrence in surface waters and wastewaters. Thus, many countries and organizations have set limits for the amount of this material in drinking water and wastewater effluent. However, the removal of 1,4-dioxane during traditional treatment processes, even ozonation (pH < 7), has been limited. Therefore, 1,4-dioxane removal during catalytic ozonation was investigated in this study, and activated carbon was selected as the ideal catalyst. The removal efficiency of 1,4-dioxane by ozonation was promoted significantly using activated carbon compared with that of ozonation only. Tert-butyl alcohol significantly reduced the removal efficiency of 1,4-dioxane during catalytic ozonation, which suggested that hydroxyl radicals (·OH) were formed during catalytic ozonation and played an important role in decomposing 1,4-dioxane. Additionally, results concerning the stability of activated carbon indicated that the catalytic activity of this catalyst remained steady during ozonation.