Riboflavin-sensitized photooxidation of phenylurea herbicide monuron in aqueous peroxide solution

K. H. Chan, Wei Chu

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A natural photosensitizer riboflavin (Rf), known as vitamin B2, and an environmental friendly strong oxidant hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were employed for the riboflavin-sensitized photooxidation process (UV/Rf/H2O2) in this study. This approach could be considered as a hybrid process of UV/Rf (photosensitization) and UV/H2O2(advanced oxidation). The photodecay of a phenylurea herbicide monuron was investigated by varying the doses of Rf and H2O2in this work. The use of UV/Rf/H2O2showed a promising performance for degrading monuron compared with the direct photolysis (UV), UV/Rf, and UV/H2O2processes. It was found that more than 99% of the monuron was removed in the UV/Rf/H2O2process in less than 70 min depending on the dosages of Rf and H2O2. In general, the overall improvement of UV/Rf/H2O2process would achieve as high as ∼450% comparing to sole-UV process. In addition, a kinetic model for the UV/Rf/H2O2process was developed successfully in this study to facilitate the prediction of the additional performance on the degradation of monuron comparing with the daughter processes (UV, UV/Rf, and UV/H2O2).
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)103-109
Number of pages7
JournalChemical Engineering Journal
Volume152
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2009

Keywords

  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • Monuron
  • Photooxidation
  • Photosensitization
  • Riboflavin

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • General Chemistry
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
  • Environmental Chemistry

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