Low-temperature conversion of ammonia to nitrogen in water with ozone over composite metal oxide catalyst

As one of the most important water pollutants, ammonia nitrogen emissions have increased year by year, which has attracted people's attention. Catalytic ozonation technology, which involves production of ·OH radical with strong oxidation ability, is widely used in the treatment of organic-containing wastewater. In this work, MgO-Co₃O₄ composite metal oxide catalysts prepared with different fabrication conditions have been systematically evaluated and compared in the catalytic ozonation of ammonia (50mg/L) in water. In terms of high catalytic activity in ammonia decomposition and high selectivity for gaseous nitrogen, the catalyst with MgO-Co₃O₄ molar ratio 8:2, calcined at 500°C for 3hr, was the best one among the catalysts we tested, with an ammonia nitrogen removal rate of 85.2% and gaseous nitrogen selectivity of 44.8%. In addition, the reaction mechanism of ozonation oxidative decomposition of ammonia nitrogen in water with the metal oxide catalysts was discussed. Moreover, the effect of coexisting anions on the degradation of ammonia was studied, finding that SO₄^2- and HCO₃^- could inhibit the catalytic activity while CO₃^2- and Br^- could promote it. The presence of coexisting cations had very little effect on the catalytic ozonation of ammonia nitrogen. After five successive reuses, the catalyst remained stable in the catalytic ozonation of ammonia.