Enhancement of the reductive transformation of pentachlorophenol by polycarboxylic acids at the iron oxide-water interface

The enhancement effect of polycarboxylic acids on reductive dechlorination transformation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) reacting with iron oxides was studied in anoxic suspension. Batch experiments were performed with three species of iron oxides (goethite, lepidocrocite and hematite) and four species of polycarboxylic acids (oxalate, citrate, succinate, and tartrate) through anoxic abiotic reactors. The chemical analyses and morphological observation from scanning and transmission electron microscopy showed that different combinations between polycarboxylic acids and iron oxides produced distinct contents of Fe(II)-polycarboxylic ligand complexes, which significantly enhanced PCP transformation. Generation of the surface-bound Fe(II) depended on concentration of polycarboxylic acids. The optimal concentration for the enhancement was 2.0 mM oxalic acid. The dechlorination mechanism was further demonstrated by generation of chloride ions. The results suggest that surface-bound Fe(II) formed on the iron oxides surface appears to be a key factor in enhancing PCP transformation, and the mole ratio of oxalate to surface-bound Fe(II) (oxalate/Fe(II)) acted as an indicator of the enhancement effect. The enhancement mechanism attributes to strong nucleophilic ability and low reductive potential of the equivalent Fe(II)-polycarboxylate complexes. Therefore, the enhancement effects might be helpful for understanding the natural attenuation of reducible organic pollutants at the interface of contaminated soil in anoxic condition.     

Photochemical and oxidative degradation of the solid-state tretinoin tocoferil

The photostability of tretinoin tocoferil was investigated under irradiation with three kinds of lamps, i.e., a cool white fluorescent lamp, a UV-A fluorescent lamp and a D65 fluorescent lamp. A combination of the cool white fluorescent lamp and the UV-A fluorescent lamp, and the D65 lamp having relative spectral power distribution similar to that of direct daylight, correspond to options 2 and 1 in ICH Guidelines, respectively. The photodegradation apparently followed second-order kinetics under these light sources and the degradation rate constant under exposure by the D65 lamp was larger than that by the cool white fluorescent lamp. The drug was susceptible to degradation by visible and UV light below 480 nm and was degraded most remarkably at around 420 nm, showing a wavelength-dependency. The semi-logarithmic plots of apparent degradation rate constant against the reciprocal of illuminance showed a good linear relationship in the Arrhenius-type fashion, and the photostability under ordinary illumination conditions could be predicted from the data obtained under the accelerated illumination conditions. The rate of oxidative degradation was slightly accelerated with the rise of temperature. Thermodynamic parameter was calculated from the Arrhenius plot. The degradation rate constant rapidly increased in proportion to partial pressure of oxygen below 20 kPa.     

Photoinduced degradation of orange II on different iron (hydr)oxides in aqueous suspension: rate enhancement on addition of hydrogen peroxide, silver nitrate, and sodium fluoride

Photoinduced organic oxidation with iron (hydr)oxides in aqueous suspension has been argued with respect to two principal mechanisms: (a) photoinduced ligand-to-metal charge transfer within a surface complex and (b) semiconductor photocatalysis. In this work, the photodegradation of azo dye orange II with UV light (lambda > or = 320 nm) in the aerated aqueous suspensions of haematite, maghemite, magnetite, goethite, lepidocrocite, and feroxyhite at an initial pH of 6.5 has been examined. The results showed that (1) all of the catalysts were effective at initiating dye photodegradation but the iron oxides appeared to be more active than the iron hydroxides; (2) the photodissolution of different iron phases and the dye photolysis in the dissolved iron solutions were very slow; (3) the initial rate of dye loss was proportional to the initial amount of adsorption, implying dye photodegradation on the catalyst surface; and (4) upon addition of H2O2, AgNO3, and NaF to the suspension, the rate of dye photodegradation was significantly enhanced with all the catalysts. In the presence of H2O2, less than 50% of the total rate enhancement was ascribed to the photo-Fenton reaction in solution and the dark Fenton reactions in solution and on the catalyst. In the presence of AgNO3, about 1 mole of silver particles was produced by consuming 3 moles of the dye substrate. In the presence of NaF, hydroxyl radicals were detected by an ethanol scavenger, whereas such radicals were not found in the absence of NaF. Moreover, under visible-light irradiation (lambda > or = 450 nm), the dye degradation was much slower than that under UV irradiation, but the reaction was also accelerated by the addition of NaF and AgNO3. The results suggest that mechanism b, not mechanism a, is operative for dye photodegradation occurring on the iron (hydr)oxides. A detailed discussion of all possible pathways is given in the text.     

One-pot aqueous solution syntheses of iron oxide nanostructures with controlled crystal phases through a microbial-mineralization-inspired approach

Iron-oxidizing bacteria produce trivalent iron oxides with the controlled crystal phases outside of their cells. Herein we have synthesized iron oxides with controlled oxidation states and crystal phases through a microbial-mineralization-inspired approach in an aqueous solution at low temperature. Trivalent iron oxides, such as lepidocrocite, ferrihydrite, goethite, and hematite, are selectively obtained from an aqueous solution containing divalent iron ions below 90 °C. The presence of a chelating agent facilitates the control of the oxidation states through the ligand-controlled approach because the precipitation of the divalent iron species is inhibited by the complexation between divalent iron ion and a chelating agent. The control of the crystal phases is achieved by the tuning of the synthetic conditions, such as the initial pH, the concentration of a chelating agent, and the reaction temperature. Furthermore, the resultant iron oxides have hierarchically organized structures consisting of nanoscale objects. The microbial-mineralization-inspired approach by using a chelating agent has potentials for the further morphological control of iron oxides and the further application to aqueous-solution syntheses of other metal oxides.     

Study of the degradation of polyurethanes. III. Mechanism of the photodegradation of polyurethane

The effect of triplet sensitizers, benzophenone and anthraquinone and metal acetylacetonates [Co(II, III), Cu, Sn, and Ni] on the photodegradation of polyurethane was examined. Ultravioletvisible (UV-V) absorption spectra, gel formation, and luminescence emission of the polymer before and after irradiation were measured. Changes in UV-V absorption of the polymer and the formation of an insoluble fraction in the polymer were accelerated in the presence of the triplet sensitizers, and (Co(II, III)), Cu, and Sn acetylacetonates. Unirradiated polyurethane was excited by irradiation at 290 and 346 nm, and emitted light at 310 and 420 nm. After 1/2 hr irradiation emission of luminescence was observed at 430 nm, excitation at 290 and 346 nm; after 2hr irradiation at 530 nm, excitation at 420 nm was observed. The results suggest that photodegradation of the polyurethane proceeds via excited triplet states forming excimer between the polymers at the initial stage and exciplexes between the polymer and degradation products or intermediates after a certain irradiation.     

Kinetics of Thermal Transformations of Precipitated Magnetite and Goethite

The aim of the present study was to determine the kinetic equations for the thermal transformations of precipitated iron oxides and hydroxides, namely for the process of thermal dehydroxylation of goethite and consecutive of hematite crystal structure growth as well as for the oxidation of magnetite to maghemite and its thermal transformation into crystalline hematite. The investigations have been carried out using thermogravimetry (TG/DTG/DTA), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD) and high temperature powder diffractometry (HT-XRD). This presentation contains the continuation of our earlier works. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Photodegradation of pyridylketoximes in methanolic solutions under UV–Vis radiation

Photodegradation of the oximes of alkyl-2-, -3-, and -4-pyridylketones and identification of possible degradation products using LC–MS/MS and GC–MS techniques were performed. The influence of copper(II) and iron(III) ions on the stability of the oxime under UV–Vis radiation exposure were also studied. It was found that the photodegradation of the pyridylketoximes resulted in the photoisomerization, photofragmentation and photosubstitution to a pyridine ring. Based on these results, a hypothetical mechanism of photodegradation of pyridylketoximes was proposed.     

Concurrent dyes adsorption and photo-degradation on fly ash based substrates

Most of the dyes are organic compounds, with different degree of polarization and different groups with various steric effects, making their complete biodegradation slow or even impossible. Adsorption on fly ash and fly ash based substrates represents a possible alternative for simultaneous removal of dyes and heavy metals form wastewaters resulted in the textile industry. Adsorption (under visible light) and adsorption and photodegradation (under UV irradiation) studies were done on Methylene blue solutions and on their mixtures with heavy metals (copper and cadmium), in systems using fly ash as single substrate, or mixed with a wide band gap semiconductor (TiO₂). The titanium oxides and hematite content in fly ash proved to be responsible for photodegradation processes even in the absence of the TiO₂ powder, confirming that modified fly ash is a viable candidate in developing up scalable processes for advanced wastewater treatment. The kinetic and thermodynamic studies allow to calculate the parameters and to describe the complex mechanisms, involving competitive adsorption.     

Adsorption of trimethyl phosphate on maghemite, hematite, and goethite nanoparticles

Adsorption of trimethyl phosphate (TMP) on well-characterized hematite, maghemite and goethite nanoparticles was studied by in situ DRIFT spectroscopy as a model system for adsorption of organophosphorous (OP) compounds on iron minerals. The iron minerals were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), specific surface area, and pore size distribution. The minerals were found to consist of stoichimetrically and morphologically well-defined maghemite, hematite, and goethite nanoparticles. Analysis of in situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy shows that TMP bonds mainly to Lewis acid Fe sites through the O phosphoryl atom (-P═O-Fe) on hematite and maghemite. On goethite most TMP molecules bond to Br?nstedt acid surface OH groups and form hydrogen bonded surface complexes. The vibrational mode analysis and uptake kinetics suggest two main reasons for the observed trend of reactivity toward TMP (hematite > maghemite > goethite): (i) larger number of accessible Lewis acid adsorption sites on hematite; (ii) stronger interaction between the Lewis acid Fe sites and the phosphoryl O atom on TMP for hematite and maghemite compared to goethite with concomitant formation of surface coordinated TMP and dimethyl phosphate intermediates. As a result, on the oxides a surface oxidation pathway dominates during the initial adsorption, which results in the formation of surface methoxy and formate. In contrast, on goethite a slower hydrolysis pathway is identified, which eventually yields phosphoric acid. The observed trends of the reactivity and analysis of the corresponding surface structure and particle morphology suggest an intimate relation between the surface chemistry of exposed crystal facets on the iron minerals. These results are important to understand OP surface chemistry on iron minerals.     

纳米TiO_2对水中腐殖酸的吸附及光催化降解

研究了水体中腐殖酸 ( HA)在纳米 Ti O2 颗粒上的吸附行为 ,并探讨了其吸附机理 ,还研究了 HA的Ti O2 光催化降解效果 .结果表明 ,Ti O2 对 HA的吸附作用明显依赖于水溶液的 p H,也取决于 Ti O2 的零电荷点 ;HA的光催化降解效果与其在催化剂表面的吸附行为密切相关 ,提高吸附速率 ,HA的去除率也随之提高 ;增加催化剂用量也能改善降解程度     

草酸盐对甲醛光催化氧化降解过程促进作用的研究

采用漫反射红外光谱（DRIFTS）技术和循环伏安法对TiO2光催化剂上甲醛光催化氧化过程中催化剂表面吸附、降解行为进行了考察．研究了草酸盐对甲醛光催化氧化降解行为的影响，结果表明低浓度草酸钠的加入提高了甲醛的降解效率，这个结果归因于草酸根离子的存在能够清除吸附位上积聚的甲酸及类似中间产物．光电化学实验进一步证实了草酸钠对甲醛光催化氧化中间产物的清除作用．     

Modulating Photochemical Properties to Enhance the Stability of Electronically Dimmable Eye Protection Devices†

The study evaluates compatibility of stabilizers with dye doped liquid crystal (LC) scaffolds that are used in electronically dimmable materials. The photodegradation of the materials was investigated and suitable stabilizers were evaluated to slow the degradation process. Various types of benzotriazole-based stabilizers were evaluated for stabilizing the liquid crystals. Based on spin trapping experiments, radicals generated upon UV exposure is likely responsible for the degradation of the system. The radical generation is competitively inhibited by the addition of stabilizers.     

Effect of light intensity and wavelengths on photodegradation reactions of riboflavin in aqueous solution

A study of the effect of light intensity and wavelengths on photodegradation reactions of riboflavin (RF) solutions in the presence of phosphate buffer using three UV and visible radiation sources has been made. The rates and magnitude of the two major photodegradation reactions of riboflavin in phosphate buffer (i.e., photoaddition and photoreduction) depend on light intensity as well as the wavelengths of irradiation. Photoaddition is facilitated by UV radiation and yields cyclodehydroriboflavin (CDRF) whereas photoreduction results from normal photolysis yielding lumichrome (LC) and lumiflavin (LF). The ratios of the photoproducts of the two reactions at 2.0 M phosphate concentration, CDRF/RF (0.09-0.22) and CDRF/LC (0.54-1.75), vary with the radiation source and are higher with UV radiation than those of the visible radiation. On the contrary, the ratios of LF/LC (0.15-0.25) increase on changing the radiation source from UV to visible. The rate is much faster with UV radiation causing 25% degradation of a 10(-5) M riboflavin solution in 7.5 min compared to that of visible radiations in 150-330 min.     

Sorption of two aromatic acids onto iron oxides: experimental study and modeling

The transport of aromatic carboxylate compounds in the environment can be strongly influenced by adsorption onto certain minerals, such as iron oxides and hydroxides, found in ground water and soils. Batch experiments with five iron oxides were conducted to quantify the contributions to adsorption from different iron mineral surfaces and compare adsorption characteristics of selected organic acids (gentisic acid (GA) and 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (HNA)). Because of their widespread abundance in soils and sediments, goethite, lepidocrocite, ferrihydrite, hematite, and magnetite were investigated. Sorption of two organic acids onto iron oxides was examined over a wide range of conditions (pH, ionic strength, and sorbate concentration). Specific surface area and mineral surface charge proved be important for the adsorption of these compounds. The sorption isotherm was described well by the Tempkin equation for both organic acids, with the adsorption constant higher for HNA than GA. For modeling the sorption edges of ferrihydrite and hematite, surface reactions involving the formation of mononuclear (1:1) surface species were proposed. These results indicate that the generalized two-layer model, with the assumption of homogeneous surface sites, could predict sorption on iron oxides over a range of pH conditions. The results of this study suggest that the mineralogy of the iron oxides and the pH value should be considered when predicting sorption of aromatic acids onto iron oxides and their fate in the soil and the environment.     

Photodegradation of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate: biophysical aspects

5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5MTHF) absorbs UV radiation and has an absorption coefficient of 24250+/-1170 M(-1) cm(-1) at 290 nm. It has a weak fluorescence emission in the wavelength region around 360 nm. Our data demonstrated induction of 5-methyldihydrofolate by exposure to UVB and, after continues irradiation, p-aminobenzoyl-L-glutamic acid was found. The photodegradation of 5MTHF follows a first order kinetic with a degradation rate constant of 9.2 x 10(-3) min(-1) under our conditions (fluence rate of 2.15 mW cm(-2), exposure wavelengths from 280 to 350 nm). Our results indicate that a direct degradation of 5MTHF by UV exposure in humans in vivo is rather unlikely. 5MTHF mainly absorbs, and is degraded by, UVB and UVC, radiation that does not penetrate the earth's atmosphere and the human skin well.     

Arsenic adsorption onto hematite and goethite

Surface complexation reactions on mineral affect the fate and the transport of arsenic in environmental systems and the global cycle of this element. In this work, the sorption of As(V) on two commercial iron oxides (hematite and goethite) was studied as a function of different physico-chemical parameters such as pH and ionic strength. The main trend observed in the variation of the arsenic sorbed with the pH is a strong retention in acidic pH and the decrease of the sorption on both sorbents at alkaline pH values. The sorption experiments for these iron oxides show that there is no effect of the ionic strength on arsenate adsorption suggesting the formation of an inner sphere surface complex. At pH values corresponding to natural pH water, both hematite and goethite are able to adsorb more than 80% of arsenic, whatever the initial concentration may be. The iron oxides used in this work should be suitable candidates as sorbents for As(V) removal technologies.     

Host (nanocavity of dealuminated Y zeolite)-guest (Ce(IV) salophen/TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>) nanocomposite materials as an efficient photocatalyst for degradation of 4-nitrophenol

Ce(IV) salophen encapsulated into dealuminated Y zeolite was prepared by the flexible ligand method. Incorporation of TiO₂ into nanocages of dealuminated Y zeolite was performed by the impregnation method. The obtained photocatalyst was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, DRS, SEM, EDS and ICP techniques. The amount of Ce(salophen) in the zeolite supercages was 0.07 mg/g of encapsulated zeolite. This catalytic system was investigated in the photodegradation of 4-nitrophenol. In this work, the effect of dark conditions, and visible and UV illumination was investigated for the degradation of 4-nitrophenol. In addition, the effect of other parameters including catalyst loading, H₂O₂ and TiO₂ was studied in the degradation of 4-nitrophenol. The obtained results reveal that the photocatalyst performance depends on catalyst loading, the presence of H₂O_2, and UV illumination.     

Photooxidation of phenol in aqueous nanodispersion of humic acid

Photooxidation of phenol sensitized by Aldrich humic acid (AHA) has been studied in an aqueous solution at neutral and basic pH. Solutions containing phenol and AHA of various concentrations were irradiated with monochromatic light at 253.7 nm or with polychromatic light within the wavelength range of 310–420 nm. The quantum yields of phenol photodegradation under these conditions were determined. At the wavelength of 253.7 nm direct degradation of phenol was much more effective than that sensitized by AHA. With polychromatic light the photooxidation was found to be strongly dependent on pH of aqueous solution and independent on AHA concentration.     

Chalcogen-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles for photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B under the irradiation of ultraviolet light

In the present work, the chalcogen (Se²⁺)-doped ZnO nanoparticles (SeZO-NPs) were synthesized using sol-gel precipitation method and tested for photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). X-ray diffraction pattern of SeZO-NPs showed the hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure regardless of Se concentration. The band edge and defect-level emissions of SeZO-NPs were determined by using the photoluminescence spectra with the excitation source of 370 nm. The bandgap, E_g, of SeZO-NPs was measured from diffused reflectance spectroscopy, which increased from 3.22 to 3.26 eV as Se concentration increased from 0 to 10 wt.%. The highest specific surface area and lowest pore size of 5-SeZO-NPs were observed to be 36.42 m²/g and 13.48 nm, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation of SeZO-NPs was measured under the illumination of ultraviolet (UV) light. The double donor (Se) played an important role toward photodegradation of RhB via reducing the recombination of charge carriers. The highest photocatalytic degradation (98.23%) and mineralization were achieved for the sample 5-SeZO (Se: 5 wt.%). The improved photocatalytic performance of 5-SeZO was attributed to the optimum Se dopant concentration for the production of more reactive oxygen species because of effective separation of charge carriers in UV light.     

Preparation of diatomite–TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> composite for photodegradation of bisphenol-A in water

To enhance the photodegradation performance of pure titanium dioxide (TiO₂), diatomite was used as a porous carrier to immobilize TiO₂ powders using calcination method. The photodegradation of bisphenol-A (BPA; 4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol), which has been listed as one of endocrine disrupting chemicals, was carried out in a batch suspension reactor using pure TiO₂ powders and diatomite–TiO₂ composites, respectively. Under the controlled conditions, the photocatalytic efficiencies of the BPA degradation by the diatomite–TiO₂ composites can be found to be higher than those by pure TiO₂ powders. This result should be attributable to the accessibility of the BPA molecules to the surface of TiO₂ particle in the modified photocatalysts, showing that the enrichment of the organic solute enhanced the rate of photodegradation on the diatomite–TiO₂ composite. However, the photodegradation efficiency was not dependent on the pore properties of these TiO₂ photocatalysts. The experimental results further indicated that the photodegradation kinetics for the destruction of BPA in water followed the first-order model well. The apparent first-order reaction constants (k _obs), thus obtained from the fittings of the model, were in line with the destruction-removal efficiencies of BPA in all the photocatalytic experiments.