Oxidative degradation of organic pollutants in aqueous solution using zero valent copper under aerobic atmosphere condition

•ZVC acidic system exhibited a strong oxidation activity to degrade organics.•DEP removal enhanced as the increase of ZVC dosage and the decrease of initial pH.•Cu+ and H2O2 were formed by the dissolution of ZVC and the reduction of O2.•OH was mainly responsible for the degradation of DEP in ZVC acidic system.•OH was produced via the Fenton-like reaction of in situ formed Cu+ with H2O2. Oxidative degradation of organic pollutants and its mechanism were investigated in aqueous solution using zero valent copper (ZVC) under aerobic atmosphere condition. Diethyl phthalate (DEP) was completely oxidized after 120min reaction by ZVC at initial pH 2.5 open to the air. DEP degradation followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics after the lag period, and the degradation rate of DEP increased gradually with the increase of ZVC dosage, and the decrease of initial pH from 5.8 to 2.0. ZVC required a shorter induction time and exhibited persistent oxidation capacity compared to that of zero valent iron and zero valent aluminium. The mechanism investigation showed that remarkable amount of Cu+/Cu2+ and H2O2 were formed in ZVC acidic system, which was due to the corrosive dissolution of ZVC and the concurrent reduction of oxygen. The addition of tert-butanol completely inhibited the degradation of DEP and the addition of Fe2+ greatly enhanced the degradation rate, which demonstrated that hydroxyl radical was mainly responsible for the degradation of DEP in ZVC acidic system under aerobic atmosphere condition, and the formation of hydroxyl radical was attributed to the Fenton-like reaction of in situ formed Cu+ with H2O2.