Microwave irradiation can significantly increase intrinsic rates of chemical reactions and selectively drive reactions. In this study, we investigated the destruction of pesticide atrazine sorbed in the micropores of aluminosilicate minerals under microwave irradiation. Results show that minerals with molecular-dimension pores and hydrophobic surfaces were highly efficient at sorbing atrazine from aqueous solution. Atrazine confined in the micropores was subjected to �superheating� under microwave irradiation, leading to rapid decomposition. In contrast, atrazine in aqueous solution and associated with PTFE powder did not degrade upon microwave irradiation, supporting the important role played by the mineral surfaces in microwave-induced degradation. The degradation pathway and infrared spectra suggest atrazine mainly underwent pyrolysis and could be mineralized to small molecules. These results show that microporous mineral sorption coupled with microwave-induced degradation could serve as a simple, economic, and energy-efficient treatment technology for removal and destruction of atrazine and other nitrogen-containing pesticides in water.

Microwave-induced degradation of organic contaminants confined in mineral micropores

243rd National Meeting (2012)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.