In order to further compare the degradation capacity of Fe-0 and Fe/Cu bimetallic system under different aeration conditions, the mineralization of PNP under different aeration conditions has been investigated thoroughly. The results show that the removal of PNP by Fe-0 or Fe/Cu system followed the pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics. Under the optimal conditions, the COD removal efficiencies obtained through Fe-0 or Fe/Cu system under different aeration conditions followed the trend that Fe/Cu (air) > Fe/Cu (N2: 0-30 min, air: 30-120 min) > control-Fe (air) > Fe/Cu (without aeration) > Fe/Cu (N2) > control-Fe (N2). It revealed that dissolved oxygen (DO) could improve the mineralization of PNP, and Cu could enhance the reactivity of Fe-0. In addition, the degradation of PNP was further analyzed by using UV-vis, FTIR and GC/MS, and the results suggest that Fe/Cu bimetallic system with air aeration could completely break the benzene ring and -NO2 structure of PNP and could generate the nontoxic and biodegradable intermediate products. Meanwhile, most of these intermediate products were further mineralized into CO2 and H2O, which brought about a high COD removal efficiency (83.8%). Therefore, Fe/Cu bimetallic system with air aeration would be a promising process for toxic refractory industry wastewater. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.