Photocatalytic degradation of imidazolinone fungicide in TiO2-coated optical fiber reactor

The photocatalytic degradation of the fungicide fenamidone is studied in a TiO2-coated optical fiber photoreactor. Fenamidone is slowly transformed with a kinetic order of 1 and a degradation rate of 0.02 h(-1). Intermediate products were isolated and identified by means of solid phase extraction (SPE) coupled to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques (LC-MS). A proposed degradation pathway of fenamidone is presented, involving mainly hydroxylation and oxidation reactions. Carboxylic acids and sulfate ions resulting from the same reaction in a powder reactor were also identified. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.