Although conventional water treatment methods have by and large stood the test of time, emphasis on sustainable alternatives is growing.  This work sought to explore the photocatalysis of two common pesticides, atrazine and amitrole, under simulated solar light by nitrogen- and fluorine-doped titania (NF-TiO2).  The effects of incorporating external oxidants including peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and persulfate (PS) were incorporated into the process.  Inclusion of the oxidants provided neither synergy nor inhibition.  Under the tested conditions, without NF-TiO2, PMS demonstrated activity by removal of atrazine; however, there was no removal by PMS of amitrole.  This result indicates that kinetics between amitrole and the reactive sulfate radicals it produces are exceedingly slow.  This suggests that sulfate radical-based treatments of amitrole may be ineffective if performed under conditions similar to the experimental ones.  Although no synergies were observed, it is still the case that for atrazine, the combined photocatalysis-external oxidant process was faster than solely photocatalytic removal.

Simulated solar light photocatalysis of amitrole and atrazine in combination with external oxidants

245th National Meeting (2013)

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