Enhanced ozonation degradation of di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) by zero-valent zinc (ZVZ) has been investigated using a semi-continuous reactor in aqueous solution. The results indicated that the combination of ozone (O-3) and ZVZ showed an obvious synergetic effect, i.e. an improvement of 54.8% on DBP degradation was obtained by the O-3/ZVZ process after 10 min reaction compared to the cumulative effect of O-3 alone and O-2/ZVZ. The degradation efficiency of DBP increased gradually with the increase of ZVZ dosage, enhanced as solution pH increasing from 2.0 to 10.0, and more amount of DBP was degraded with the initial concentration of DBP arising from 0.5 to 2.0 mg L-1. Recycling use of ZVZ resulted in the enhancement of DBP degradation, because the newly formed zinc oxide took part in the reaction. The mechanism investigation demonstrated that the enhancement effect was attributed to the introduction of ZVZ, which could promote the utilization of O-3, enhance the formation of superoxide radical by reducing O-2 via one-electron transfer, accelerate the production of hydrogen peroxide and the generation of hydroxyl radical. Additionally, the newly formed zinc oxide on ZVZ surface also contributed to the enhancement of DBP degradation in the recycling use of ZVZ. Most importantly, the O-3/ZVZ process was also effective in enhanced ozonation degradation of DBP under the background of actual waters. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.