Treatment of atrazine by integrating photocatalytic and biological processes

This research examines the degradation of atrazine by photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) under different experimental conditions. Deisopropylatrazine, deethylatrazine and deethyldeisopropylatrazine were formed as major intermediates based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The reaction mixture was found to be toxic towards two bioassays, i.e. the Microtox and amphipods survival tests even when atrazine was completely degraded by PCO within 2 h under optimized conditions. The results indicate that adding H2O2 could significantly enhance the degradation of atrazine by PCO. Ammeline, ammelide and cyanuric acid (CA) became the major intermediates/products as detected by high performance liquid chromatography from 6th to the 40th h of PCO treatment. After 72 h PCO treatment, only CA was detectable in the reaction mixture. Further degradation of CA was carried out by a newly isolated CA-degrading bacterium, Sphingomonas capsulata. The photochemical pretreatment integrated with microbial degradation lead to the complete degradation and detoxification of atrazine.     

Characterization of bacterial diversity in an atrazine degrading enrichment culture and degradation of atrazine,cyanuric acid and biuret in industrial wastewater

An enrichment culture was used to study atrazine degradation in mineral salt medium (MSM) (T1), MSM+soil extract (1:1, v/v) (T2) and soil extract (T3). Results suggested that enrichment culture required soil extract to degrade atrazine, as after second sequential transfer only partial atrazine degradation was observed in T1 treatment while atrazine was completely degraded in T2 and T3 treatments even after fourth transfer. Culture independent polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) technique confirmed selective enrichment of genus Bacillus along with Pseudomonas and Burkholderia. Degradation of atrazine/metabolites in the industrial wastewater was studied at different initial concentrations of the contaminants [wastewater-water (v/v) ratio: T1, 1:9; T2, 2:8; T3, 3:7; T4, 5:5 and T5, undiluted effluent]. The initial concentrations of atrazine, cyanuric acid and biuret ranged between 5.32 and 53.92 µg mL^?1, 265.6 and 1805.2 µg mL^?1 and 1.85 and 16.12 µg mL^?1, respectively. The enrichment culture was able to completely degrade atrazine, cyanuric acid and biuret up to T4 treatment, while no appreciable degradation of contaminants was observed in the undiluted effluent (T5). Inability of enrichment culture to degrade atrazine/metabolites might be due to high concentrations of cyanuric acid. Therefore, a separate study on cyanuric acid degradation suggested: (i) no appreciable cyanuric acid degradation with accumulation of an unidentified metabolite in the medium where cyanuric acid was supplemented as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen; (ii) partial cyanuric acid degradation with accumulation of unidentified metabolite in the medium containing additional nitrogen source; and (iii) complete cyanuric acid degradation in the medium supplemented with an additional carbon source. This unidentified metabolite observed during cyanuric acid degradation and also detected in the enrichment culture inoculated wastewater samples, however, was degraded up to T4 treatments and was persistent in the T5 treatment. Probably, accumulation of this metabolite inhibited atrazine/cyanuric acid degradation by the enrichment culture in undiluted wastewater.     

TiO2胶体光催化降解罗丹明B染料

TiO2胶体从钛氧有机物水解制备,表征的方法有:X射线衍射光谱(XRD)、激光散射粒径分布、傅立叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)、X射线光电子谱(XPS)和透射电子显微镜(TEM)。利用罗丹明B染料分子作为探针分子研究TiO2胶体的光催化活性,分析了pH、催化剂用量、外加氧化剂(H2O2)用量及罗丹明B初始浓度对TiO2胶体光催化活性的影响。结果表明:制备的TiO2胶体粒子平均粒径为13.8 nm(激光散法测定),光催化降解罗丹明B染料的反应属于一级动力学反应,可以用Langmuir-Hinshewood模型加以描述,反应速率常数k1为0.08413 mg/(L.min),平衡吸附常数k2为1.5305 L/mg;在pH为6,TiO2胶体用量为0.04%,H2O2(含量30%)用量为0.2%(V/V),光照度为69.6μW/cm2时,5 h后罗丹明B染料的降解率可达到99%以上;相似的条件,0.2%的P25 TiO2粉体光催化处理染料水时,罗丹明B的降解率为90%。纳米TiO2胶体不仅可以提高罗丹明B的光催化降解率,还具有用量少,可有效降低水处理成本的特点。     

Vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) photolysis of water: Mineralization of atrazine

The versatility and efficiency of the VUV photolysis of water as an “Advanced Oxidation Procedure” for the light-induced oxidative degradation of atrazine as a pollutant of surface and ground waters is evaluated. The oxidation of atrazine using TiO₂ as a photocatalyst has been reported to produce almost stoichiometric amounts of cyanuric acid. Mineralization to CO₂, water and inorganic nitrogen containing ions occurred to a very low extent implying that cyanuric acid is resistant to further degradation under the chosen experimental conditions. Our present results show that in oxygen saturated solutions 50% of the initial atrazine is converted to cyanuric acid, whereas only 10% of the initial atrazine is isolated as cyanuric acid in argon saturated solutions. The results indicate that mineralization is more efficient in not strictly oxidative reaction media.     

Comparison of advanced oxidation processes and identification of monuron photodegradation products in aqueous solution

The photodegradation of monuron (3-(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea) in aqueous solutions under simulated solar irradiation has been conducted by different advanced oxidation processes (UV/H(2)O(2), UV/H(2)O(2)/Fe(2+), UV/H(2)O(2)/TiO(2), UV/TiO(2), dark H(2)O(2)/Fe(3+)). The degradation rates were always higher for the homogeneous catalysis in photo-Fenton reactions (UV/H(2)O(2)/Fe(2+)) compared to the heterogeneous photocatalytic systems (TiO(2)/UV and UV/H(2)O(2)/TiO(2)). Optimal concentrations of Fe(2+) and H(2)O(2) for the abatement of the herbicide in the photo-Fenton system were found to be 1 mM Fe(II) and 10 mM H(2)O(2). Several intermediary products were identified using large volume injection micro-liquid chromatography with UV detection (mu-LC-UV), mu-LC-MS and GC-MS techniques and a degradation mechanism has been proposed.     

光催化降解水体异味物质2-MIB的机理

以水体异味物质2-甲基异莰醇(2-methylisoborneol,2-MIB)为研究对象,在紫外光(λ<380 nm)照射下,探讨TiO2(P25)对2-MIB的光催化降解特性及光化学作用机理。结果表明,UV/TiO2光催化体系可以有效去除水体异味物质2-MIB,紫外光照射60 min,对2-MIB的降解率达95%。同时研究了光催化降解体系介质pH,共存腐殖酸(HA)和过硫酸钾(K2S2O8)对UV/TiO2光催化体系降解2-MIB的影响,发现低浓度HA([HA]≤0.5 mg/L)可以提高2-MIB降解速率,当HA浓度高于0.5 mg/L,2-MIB降解反应受到抑制;同时当加入电子受体K2S2O8后,降解体系中活性物种羟基自由基(.OH)明显增加,提高了TiO2对2-MIB的降解能力。利用苯甲酸荧光光度法和POD-DPD显色法跟踪测定降解过程中羟基自由基(·OH)和过氧化氢(H2O2)的变化,表明光催化反应涉及·OH机理。     

Titanium dioxide mediated photocatalytic degradation of 17beta-estradiol in aqueous solution

Photocatalytic degradation of 17beta-estradiol (E2) in aqueous medium mediated with titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) was studied. Moreover, effect of TiO(2) dosage on the degradation efficiency was investigated. Particular attention was paid to the identification of intermediates and analysis of photocatalytic degradation mechanism of E2 under neutral and alkaline conditions. The degradation efficiency of E2 increased with increasing concentration of TiO(2) but decreased due to light scattering as TiO(2) concentration was greater than 0.5mgml(-1). Several intermediates were formed during photocatalytic degradation of E2. However, only a few of the compounds could be identified and confirmed by LC-MS and LC-MS/MS. Six intermediates were observed by photocatalytic oxidation under alkaline conditions, namely 2-hydroxyestradiol, 10epsilon-17beta-dihydroxy-1,4-estradien-3-one (DEO), 10epsilon-hydroperoxide-17beta-hydroxy-1,4-estradien-3-one and three kinds of dicarboxylic acids formed by the opening of aromatic ring. In addition to the six intermediates mentioned above, 17beta-hydroxy-1,4-estradien-3-one (EO) was observed under neutral conditions and in the presence of methanol. Based on these intermediates, which were hardly degraded even after E2 was fully degraded, the mechanism of E2 degradation by TiO(2) photocatalysis was elucidated.     

Photocatalytic degradation of the herbicide erioglaucine in the presence of nanosized titanium dioxide: comparison and modeling of reaction kinetics

The present work mainly deals with photocatalytic degradation of a herbicide, erioglaucine, in water in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles (Degussa P-25) under ultraviolet (UV) light illumination (30 W). The degradation rate of erioglaucine was not so high when the photolysis was carried out in the absence of TiO2 and it was negligible in the absence of UV light. We have studied the influence of the basic photocatalytic parameters such as pH of the solution, amount of TiO2, irradiation time and initial concentration of erioglaucine on the photodegradation efficiency of erioglaucine. A kinetic model is applied for the photocatalytic oxidation by the UV/TiO2 system. Experimental results indicated that the photocatalytic degradation process could be explained in terms of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model. The values of the adsorption equilibrium constant, K, and the second order kinetic rate constant, k, were 0.116 ppm-1 and 0.984 ppm min-1, respectively. In this work, we also compared the reactivity between the commercial TiO2 Degussa P-25 and a rutile TiO2. The photocatalytic activities of both photocatalysts were tested using the herbicide solution. We have noticed that photodegradation efficiency was different between both of them. The higher photoactivity of Degussa P-25 compared to that of rutile TiO2 for the photodegradation of erioglaucine may be due to higher hydroxyl content, higher surface area, nano-size and crystallinity of the Degussa P-25. Our results also showed that the UV/TiO2 process with Degussa P-25 as photocatalyst was appropriate as the effective treatment method for removal of erioglaucine from a real wastewater. The electrical energy consumption per order of magnitude for photocatalytic degradation of erioglaucine was lower with Degussa P-25 than in the presence of rutile TiO2.     

Photocatalytic degradation of dyes on a magnetically separated photocatalyst under visible and UV irradiation

A novel kind of magnetically separable photocatalyst of TiO2/SiO2/gamma-Fe2O3 (TSF) is prepared. Scanning tunnel microscope (STM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) were used to characterize the structure of the photocatalyst. In the TSF photocatalyst, a TiO2 shell is for photocatalysis, a gamma-Fe2O3 core as a carrier is for separation by the magnetic field and a SiO2 membrane between the TiO2 shell and the gamma-Fe2O3 core is used to weaken the adverse influence of gamma-Fe2O3 on the photocatalysis of TiO2. Three kinds of dyes, Fluoresein, Orange II and Red acid G, were used to examine the photocatalytic activity of TSF. Due to strong UV adsorption of the gamma-Fe2O3, the photocatalytic activity of TSF was lower than that of the pure TiO2. Deducting the light absorption of the gamma-Fe2O3 particles, the photocatalytic activity of TSF was found to be higher than that of the P25 under UV irradiation. On the other hand, the photocatalytic activity of TSF under visible irradiation was much lower than that of the P25 TiO2 even deducting the visible light absorption of the gamma-Fe2O3 particles. Differences in the photocatalytic mechanisms under UV and visible irradiation lead to the differences in the photodegradation characteristics of dyes on TSF. The recycled TSF exhibited a good repeatability of photocatalytic activity.     

Sonophotocatalytic degradation of alazine and gesaprim commercial herbicides in TiO2 slurry

The photocatalytic degradation of alazine and gesaprim commercial herbicides was carried out in aqueous TiO(2) suspensions under UV light (15W, 352 nm). Degradation of these herbicides was also observed by the combined effects of photocatalysis with sonolysis (sonophotocatalysis) using an ultrasound source of 20kHz. Degradation profiles were recorded by measuring the concentration of the active compounds present in the alazine (alachlor and atrazine) and gesaprim (atrazine) by HPLC as a function of irradiation time (sound and/or light). Over 90% of the active component in the gesaprim was abated and those in alazine were completely degraded. The content of total organic carbon and chemical oxygen demand was also monitored. Mineralization of the commercial herbicides was achieved. Over 80% of chemical oxygen demand abatement was attained for both herbicides with sonophotocatalysis at 150 min of irradiation time. The photocatalytic degradation of the herbicides followed a pseudo-first order kinetics and their rate constant was increased by the combined effects of sonolysis.     

TiO_2胶体光催化降解罗丹明B染料

TiO2胶体从钛氧有机物水解制备,表征的方法有：X射线衍射光谱（XRD）、激光散射粒径分布、傅立叶变换红外光谱（FT-IR）、X射线光电子谱（XPS）和透射电子显微镜（TEM）。利用罗丹明B染料分子作为探针分子研究TiO2胶体的光催化活性,分析了pH、催化剂用量、外加氧化剂（H2O2）用量及罗丹明B初始浓度对TiO2胶体光催化活性的影响。结果表明：制备的TiO2胶体粒子平均粒径为13.8 nm（激光散法测定）,光催化降解罗丹明B染料的反应属于一级动力学反应,可以用Langmuir-Hinshewood模型加以描述,反应速率常数k1为0.08413 mg/（L.min）,平衡吸附常数k2为1.5305 L/mg;在pH为6,TiO2胶体用量为0.04%,H2O2（含量30%）用量为0.2%（V/V）,光照度为69.6μW/cm2时,5 h后罗丹明B染料的降解率可达到99%以上;相似的条件,0.2%的P25 TiO2粉体光催化处理染料水时,罗丹明B的降解率为90%。纳米TiO2胶体不仅可以提高罗丹明B的光催化降解率,还具有用量少,可有效降低水处理成本的特点。     

Degradation of atrazine in mineral salts medium and soil using enrichment culture

Atrazine degrading enrichment culture was prepared by its repeated addition to an alluvial soil and its ability to degrade atrazine in mineral salts medium and soil was studied. Enrichment culture utilized atrazine as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen in mineral salts medium and degradation slowed down when sucrose and/or ammonium hydrogen phosphate were supplemented as additional source of carbon and nitrogen, respectively. Biuret was detected as the only metabolite of atrazine while deethylatrazine, deisopropyatrazine, hydroxyatrazine and cyanuric acid were never detected at any stage of degradation. Enrichment culture degraded atrazine in an alkaline alluvial soil while no degradation was observed in the acidic laterite soil. Enrichment culture was able to withstand high concentrations of atrazine (110 μg/g) in the alluvial soil as atrazine was completely degraded. Developed mixed culture has the ability to degrade atrazine and has potential application in decontamination of contaminated water and soil.     

TiO2光催化氧化降解乳酸的工艺及机理研究

以TiO2为催化剂、紫外灯为光源对乳酸进行光催化降解实验,考察了乳酸初始浓度、TiO2用量、反应时间、曝气方式等因素对乳酸降解率的影响,并在此基础上应用正交实验对降解条件进行优化,同时对乳酸的降解机理进行了探索研究。实验结果表明：以300 W紫外汞灯为光源,在乳酸初始浓度为0.5 g/L、TiO2量为0.20 g/L、反应时间120 min、持续通入空气鼓泡的条件下,乳酸降解效果最佳,乳酸降解率为99.9%;降解12 h总有机碳去除率达91.2%。乳酸光催化降解的反应途径为：乳酸脱羧生成乙醇,乙醇被氧化生成乙醛,进而氧化为乙酸,所有的中间产物被继续降解,最终矿化为CO2和H2O等小分子物质。     

Effect of ZnFe2O4 doping on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2

The photocatalytic oxidation of the organic pollutants with the TiO2 as photocatalyst has been widely studied in the world, and many achievements have been got. The degradation of pollutants is highly related with the photocatalytic activity of TiO2. It is demonstrated that doping ions or oxides to TiO2 is one way to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2. In this paper, the ZnFe2O4-doped TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared from butyl titanate by a sol-gel method and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that when TiO2 was doped with ZnFe2O4, its particle size will decrease and its crystal structure will partly transform from anatase to rutile. The photocatalytic activity of the elaborated powders was studied following the degradation of Rhodamine B. The results showed that doping ZnFe2O4 to TiO2 will enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 and that ZnFe2O4-doped TiO2 in the coexistence of anatase and rutile has higher efficiency for the degradation of Rhodamine B than that in the anatase phase alone. Also the different role of O2 in the direct photolysis and photocatalysis of Rhodamine B was discussed.     

亚甲基蓝表面修饰纳米TiO2降解造纸废水动力学

以亚甲基蓝(MB)作为表面修饰剂,采用简单的化学吸附法制备亚甲基蓝表面修饰的纳米TiO2光催化剂(TiO2-MB)。经表面修饰后,TiO2-MB光催化剂波长响应范围红移至可见光区575 nm处。探讨了光催化剂量、光照时间和溶液pH值对TiO2-MB光催化降解造纸废水的影响;研究了纳米TiO2-MB对造纸废水的暗吸附规律和光降解性能。结果表明:纳米TiO2-MB对造纸废水的吸附规律都较好地符合Langmuir和Freundlich吸附等温模型,属于吸热反应;光催化降解动力学符合Langmuir-Hinshelwood动力学模型。在160 W高压汞灯光照80 min,3.0 g/L纳米TiO2-MB光催化降解pH=2.0的造纸废水(COD:2 069.8 mg/L),COD去除率可达94.7%,处理效果远高于避光条件下。光催化剂经8次使用仍具有较高的催化活性。     

Performance of photocatalytic reactors using immobilized TiO2 film for the degradation of phenol and methylene blue dye present in water stream

TiO2 thin film photocatalyst was successfully synthesized and immobilized on glass reactor tube using sol-gel method. The synthesized TiO2 coating was transparent, which enabled the penetration of ultra-violet (UV) light to the catalyst surface. Two photocatalytic reactors with different operating modes were tested: (a) tubular photocatalytic reactor with re-circulation mode and (b) batch photocatalytic reactor. A new proposed TiO2 synthesized film formulation of 1 titanium isopropoxide: 8 isopropanol: 3 acetyl acetone: 1.1 H2O: 0.05 acetic acid (in molar ratio) gave excellent photocatalytic activity for degradation of phenol and methylene blue dye present in the water. The half-life time, t1/2 of photocatalytic degradation of phenol was 56 min at the initial phenol concentration of 1000 microM in the batch reactor. In the tubular photocatalytic reactor, 5 re-circulation passes with residence time of 2.2 min (single pass) degraded 50% of 40-microM methylene blue dye. Initial phenol concentration, presence of hydrogen peroxide, presence of air bubbling and stirring speed as the process variables were studied in the batch reactor. Initial methylene blue concentration, pH value, light intensity and reaction temperature were studied as the process variables in the tubular reactor. The synthesized TiO2 thin film was characterized using SEM, XRD and EDX analysis. A comparative performance between the synthesized TiO2 thin film and commercial TiO2 particles (99% anatase) was evaluated under the same experimental conditions. The TiO2 film was equally active as the TiO2 powder catalyst.     

Treatment system for solid matrix contaminated with fluoranthene. II--Recirculating photodegradation technique.

A laboratory-scale solar reactor and photodegradation technique were developed to enhance the degradation process of fluoranthene. Fluoranthene was used in this study to represent toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are persistent in the environment. The extracted fluoranthene from soil in organic solvent (EFOS) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were pumped from a 100 ml vessel into a solar glass cell coated with titanium dioxide (TiO2) at 80 microl min(-1). This work compares the efficiency of the developed photocatalytic degradation technique with the conventional batch process. The degradation efficiency of the developed technique was assessed at different initial concentrations of fluoranthene and percentages of H2O2 in the extract using different flow rates. Preliminary results indicated that the developed technique degraded 99% of fluoranthene from EFOS in the presence of H2O2 and 83% without H2O2. There was no significant difference between fluoranthene degradation rates by the developed technique and the batch method. The developed technique however, treated double the volume of solution that was treated by the batch reactor method which was time consuming and required continuous attention.     

外负载Ce-TiO2/活性炭复合体对亚甲基蓝光催化

用超临界流体沉积法处理过的活性炭(AC)为载体,钛酸丁酯为前驱物,硝酸铈为掺杂剂,乙醇为溶剂,制备了外负载TiO2-Ce/Csurf复合材料。在紫外灯照射下,以亚甲基蓝溶液为标准模拟降解物,研究了复合体不同热处理温度、不同浓度、不同亚甲基蓝浓度、不同铈掺杂量以及不同反应温度对光催化性能的影响。结果表明:外负载催化剂的催化性能要高于纯TiO2和体负载催化剂。铈离子掺杂能抑制TiO2晶粒生长,阻碍了TiO2由锐钛矿型向金红石型的转变。当铈离子掺杂量为1.5%,热处理温度为600℃,亚甲基蓝溶液初始浓度为5.5 mg/L,样品浓度为1.5 g/L时,光催化性能最好。     

Solar light induced and TiO2 assisted degradation of textile dye reactive blue 4

Aqueous solutions of reactive blue 4 textile dye are totally mineralised when irradiated with TiO2 photocatalyst. A solution containing 4 x 10(-4) M dye was completely degraded in 24 h irradiation time. The intensity of the solar light was measured using Lux meter. The results showed that the dye molecules were completely degraded to CO2, SO4(2-), NO3-, NH4+ and H2O under solar irradiation. The addition of hydrogen peroxide and potassium persulphate influenced the photodegradation efficiency. The rapidity of photodegradation of dye intermediates were observed in the presence of hydrogen peroxide than in its absence. The auxiliary chemicals such as sodium carbonate and sodium chloride substantially affected the photodegradation efficiency. High performance liquid chromatography and chemical oxygen demand were used to study the mineralisation and degradation of the dye respectively. It is concluded that solar light induced degradation of textile dye in wastewater is a viable technique for wastewater treatment.     

Photochemical and photocatalytic degradation of gaseous toluene using short-wavelength UV irradiation with TiO2 catalyst: comparison of three UV sources

The feasibility of the use of short-wavelength UV (254+185 nm) irradiation and TiO2 catalyst for photodegradation of gaseous toluene was evaluated. It was clear that the use of TiO2 under 254+185 nm light irradiation significantly enhanced the photodegradation of toluene relative to UV alone, owed to the combined effect of photochemical oxidation in the gas phase and photocatalytic oxidation on TiO2. The photodegradation with 254+185 nm light irradiation was compared with other UV wavelengths (365 nm (black light blue lamp) and 254 nm (germicidal UV lamp)). The highest conversion and mineralization were obtained with the 254+185 nm light. Moreover, high conversions were achieved even at high initial concentrations of toluene. Catalyst deactivation was also prevented with the 254+185 nm light. Regeneration experiments with the deactivated catalyst under different conditions revealed that reactive oxygen species played an important role in preventing catalyst deactivation by decomposing effectively the less reactive carbon deposits on the TiO2 catalyst. Simultaneous elimination of photogenerated excess ozone and residual organic compounds was accomplished by using a MnO2 ozone-decomposition catalyst to form reactive species for destruction of the organic compounds.