Abstract
The aim of this work was to investigate the degradation of six polyacrylamide (PAM) polymers when submitted to advanced oxidation processes (AOP) and ferrate(VI) oxidation. PAM is a highly versatile polymer made of acrylamide monomers, and it is widely used for water and wastewater treatment purposes. The degradation of these polymers using Fenton reagent, H2O2/UV, Fe2+/H2O2/UV, and Fe3+/H2O2/UV, as well as ferrate(VI), showed that PAM may present different behaviors under oxidation processes, especially regarding their ionic charge. Among the oxidative processes, the photochemical processes present the best overall results towards PAM degradation. COD and TOC were successfully used to assess PAM degradation, while ammonia determination has shown that •OH radicals produced by AOP tends to rapidly attack the amide group, releasing NH3 as a reaction product. Finally, the influence of each oxidation process, its reagent concentration, and photo-induced conditions on PAM degradation are discussed.
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