A combination of ultrasound and oxidative enzyme:: sono-enzyme degradation of phenols in a mixture

Sono-degradation and sono-enzyme degradation of phenols were performed on the mixtures of double compounds (phenol, p-chlorophenol; phenol, p-cresol; phenol, p-nitrophenol; and p-chlorophenol, p-cresol) in aqueous medium. Sono-degradation of phenol and its substituted compounds individually behaved approximately the same, but in the case of mixture behaved differently. Sonodegradation of substituted phenols was easier than phenol in a mixture, but there was an exception in the combination of phenol and p-nitrophenol that the degradation of phenol was faster than substituted compound. This behavior was the same in sono-enzyme degradation, but with higher degradation rate. Between these mixtures, the combination of phenol and p-cresol presented a significant different behavior in case of single and double compounds solutions. In this system, the sono-degradation of phenol in mixture was more difficult than phenol alone but, the sono-degradation of p-cresol in mixture was easier in comparison with p-cresol alone. In sono-enzyme degradation, p-cresol as a more reactive compound facilitated the remove of phenol in mixture in compare of the individual case. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.