Removal of diethyl phthalate from water solution by adsorption, photo-oxidation, ozonation and advanced oxidation process (UV/H2O2, O3/H2O2 and O3/activated carbon)

The objective of this work was to compare the effectiveness of conventional technologies (adsorption on activated carbon, AC, and ozonation) and technologies based on advanced oxidation processes, AOPs, (UV/H2O2, O3/AC, O3/H2O2) to remove phthalates from aqueous solution (ultrapure water, surface water and wastewater). Diethyl phthalate (DEP) was chosen as a model pollutant because of its high water solubility (1080 mg/L at 293 K) and toxicity. The activated carbons showed a high adsorption capacity to adsorb DEP in aqueous solution (up to 858 mg/g), besides the adsorption mechanism of DEP on activated carbon is governed by dispersive interactions between π electrons of its aromatic ring with π electrons of the carbon graphene planes. The photodegration process showed that the pH solution does not significantly affect the degradation kinetics of DEP and the first-order kinetic model satisfactorily fitted the experimental data. It was observed that the rate of decomposition of DEP with the O3/H2O2 and O3/AC systems is faster than that with only O3. The technologies based on AOPs (UV/H2O2, O3/H2O2, O3/AC) significantly improve the degradation of DEP compared to conventional technologies (O3, UV). AC adsorption, UV/H2O2, O3/H2O2, and O3/AC showed a high yield to remove DEP; however, the disadvantage of AC adsorption is its much longer time to reach maximum removal. The best system to treat water (ultrapure and natural) polluted with DEP is the O3/AC one since it achieved the highest DEP degradation and TOC removal, as well as the lower water toxicity.

► Activated carbons showed a high adsorption capacity (up to 858 mg/g) to remove DEP.
► The pH solution did not significantly affect the photodegradation kinetics of DEP.
► The O3/H2O2 and O3/AC systems were more efficient than O3 to degrade DEP.
► The generation of HO
• from O3 was enhanced by ACs, mainly by those of basic nature.
► O3/AC system was the most efficient to remove DEP from ultrapure and natural water.