Degradation of aniline by Fe2+-activated persulfate oxidation at ambient temperature

The aniline degradation by persulfate activated with ferrous ion (Fe2+) was investigated in batch reactor at ambient temperature. The experimental factors in aqueous solutions including persulfate concentration, Fe2+ concentration, pH and ionic strength level were discussed. It is demonstrated that, aniline degradation rate increases with increasing persulfate concentration, but much more ferrous ion inhibits the aniline degradation. When the aniline concentration is 0.10 mmol/L, the maximum aniline degradation occurs at the S2O82- to Fe2+ molar ratio of 250/5 at pH 7.0. In the pH range of 5.0-8.5, increasing pH causes higher aniline degradation. What's more, the increase of ionic strength in solution causes inhibiting in the reaction. Produced intermediates during the oxidation process were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technology. And degradation pathways of aniline were also tentatively proposed.