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BACKGROUND: Wastewater containing m‐cresol has become a global water environmental problem because its degradation is difficult, and it is highly toxic to plants, animals, and humans. The heterogeneous catalytic ozonation process has been widely used in the treatment of environmental pollution, so it is very important to study efficient catalysts. Perovskite catalysts have been widely investigated and applied in catalytic ozonation processes. Among them, strontium zirconate is a promising perovskite catalyst owing to its high oxidation efficiency and environmental friendliness. RESULTS: Strontium zirconate was successfully synthesized via the co‐precipitation method. To improve strontium zirconate catalytic performance, some methods such as changing the doping ratio of cobalt and iron, changing the amount of polyethylene glycol added, changing the calcination temperature, and changing the aging time were carried out during the synthesis process. Finally, the optimal conditions were determined. 0.4 g L−1 Sr2Co0.4Fe0.6ZrO6 prepared under the optimal conditions was used for catalytic ozonation of 100 ppm m‐cresol, which achieved the optimum degradation (0.136 min−1), m‐cresol conversion rate (92.2%) and total organic carbon removal rate (12.1%) within 20 min. CONCLUSION: This work provides the best preparation conditions. The Sr2Co0.4Fe0.6ZrO6 catalyst, as prepared, is the optimal catalyst for catalytic ozonation of m‐cresol among the investigated Sr2CoxFe1−xZrO6 catalysts. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]