•Iron-montmorillonite has excellent catalytic activity on phenol Fenton degradation.•Phenol Fenton reaction follows the two-stage pseudo first order kinetic equations.•Role of visible light irradiation is more evident during induction reaction period.•Hydroquinone and catechol have a significant effect on the second-stage kinetics.Iron-montmorillonite (Fe-Mt) with delaminated structures was synthesized via the introduction of iron oxides into Na-montmorillonite. Fe-Mt showed significant increases in the available iron content, surface area and pore volume, along with a slight increase in the basal spacing from d001 = 1.26 (Na-Mt) to 1.53 nm (Fe-Mt). The Fenton process was efficient for phenol removal using Fe-Mt as a catalyst under visible light irradiation, and the process had two-stage pseudo-first order kinetics. The overall reaction had a higher degradation rate even when it was only irradiated with visible light for the first 40 min period. Further investigation confirmed that the irradiation increased the presence of certain intermediates. Among them, 1,4-benzoquinone, hydroquinone, and catechol all enhanced the Fenton reaction rates. Either catechol or hydroquinone was added to the Fenton system with Fe-Mt/H2O2 with or without visible light irradiation, and they both accelerated phenol degradation because catechol and hydroquinone are capable of reductively and effectively transforming Fe(III) into Fe(II). The concentrations of dissolved total Fe increased with the increase in the oxalic acid concentration, which can strongly chelate Fe(III). Hence, iron was released from Fe-Mt, and reductive transformation played an important role in promoting the Fenton reaction process for phenol removal.Download high-res image (97KB)Download full-size image