Experiments were conducted to investigate the degradation of 2,6-dinitro-p-cresol (DNPC) in the chlorine dioxide (ClO 2 ) catalytic oxidation process. Pure aluminum oxide was used as the catalyst in this process. The degradation of DNPC by ClO 2 using aluminum oxide as catalyst was systematically studied by varying the experimental parameters, such as pH values, catalyst dosage, the initial concentration of DNPC and ClO 2 , reaction time, etc. Under optimal condition (DNPC concentration 39 mg$L -1 , ClO 2 concentration 0.234 g$L -1 , reaction time 15 min, catalyst dosage 4.7 g$L -1 and pH 4.32), almost complete degradation of DNPC can be achieved. The kinetic studies revealed that the ClO 2 catalytic oxidation degradation of DNPC followed pseudofirst-order kinetics with respect to both ClO 2 and DNPC concentration. The repetitive use of the catalyst was investigated along sequential feed-batch trials. The catalyst performed efficiently after five runs. In addition, a simple and convenient method for the determination of ClO 2 in water was developed by using acid chrome black 7 (MB 7) spectrophotometry in this paper.