Journal
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Volume 192, Issue 3, Pages 1869-1875Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.07.026
Keywords
Perfluorocarboxylic acids; Photocatalysis; Carboxyl anion radical; Hole scavenger
Categories
Funding
- National Basic Research Program of China [2007CB613303]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Heterogeneous photocatalytic decomposition of perfluoroocatanoic acid (PFOA) by TiO2 under 254 nm UV light was investigated. Adding oxalic acid as a hole-scavenger significantly accelerated PFOA decomposition under nitrogen atmosphere. Fluoride ion, formic acid and six shorter-chain perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) bearing C-2-C-7 were identified as intermediates. When using perchloric acid (HClO4) as a replacement of oxalic acid to maintain the same pH of the reaction solution, PFOA did not decomposition efficiently. Compared with oxalic acid, potassium iodide (Kl, another hole-scavenger) also led to a slower PFOA decomposition, while the addition of an electron acceptor (potassium persulfate, K2S2O8) obviously inhibited PFOA decomposition. This suggested that oxalic acid played more than one role in PFOA decomposition rather than simply providing acidity and acting as a hole-scavenger. The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements confirmed the existence of carboxyl anion radicals (CO2 center dot-) in the photocatalytic process, which was a result of the reaction between oxalic acid and photogenerated hole. These findings indicated that PFOA decomposition was primarily induced by CO2 center dot- radicals, although photogenerated electron was also conducive to PFOA decomposition. A possible mechanism for PFOA decomposition was proposed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available