Catalytic ozonation of ketoprofen by defective boron nitride

This study focuses on the feasibility of boron nitride as a catalyst for ozonation of ketoprofen. The defective boron nitride was prepared by calcination of boric acid and melamine and characterized by XRD, SEM, FT-IR, XPS, temperature programmed desorption, Raman and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra. The apparent rate constant and removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand in the boron nitride catalyzed system were 2.7 times and 1.6 times higher than those of the ozonation alone at the pH of 7, respectively. The catalytic active sites were found to be acidic B OH and could be generated by manufacturing defects during preparation.