Photocatalytic degradation of atrazine herbicide with Illuminated Fe+3-TiO2 Nanoparticles

Narges Shamsedini,Simin Nasseri,Mohammad Ali Baghapour,Mansooreh Dehghani

doi:10.1186/s40201-017-0270-6

Abstract

BackgroundAtrazine is a herbicide that is widely used to control broadleaf and grassy weeds for growing many crops especially in maize production. It is a frequently detected herbicide in many groundwater resources. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of using ultraviolet radiation UV and fortified nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) doped with trivalent iron to remove atrazine from aqueous phase and determin the removal efficiency under the optimal conditions.ResultsThe results of this study demonstrated that the maximum atrazine removal rate was at pH = 11 in the presence of Fe+ 3-TiO2 catalyst =25 mg/L and the initial concentration of atrazine equal to 10 mg/L. As the reaction time increased, the removal rate of herbicide increased as well. Atrazine removal rate was enhanced by the effect of UV radiation on catalyst activation in Fe+3-TiO2/UV process. It was also revealed that pH has no significant effect on atrazine removal efficiency (p > 0.05).ConclusionBased on the data obtained in this study, atrazine removal efficiency was increased by increasing pH, initial atrazine concentration, catalyst, and contact time. The results also showed Fe+3-TiO2/UV process was an appropriate method to reduce atrazine in contaminated water resources. In conclusion, Fe+3-TiO2/UV process may enhance the rate of atrazine reduction in highly polluted water resources (more than 99%).

Highlights

Atrazine is a herbicide that is widely used to control broadleaf and grassy weeds for growing many crops especially in maize production
The effect of pH on photocatalytic degradation of atrazine by Fe+ 3-TiO2 / UV process The variations of pH on the degradation rate of atrazine by Fe+3-TiO2/UV process is shown in Figs. 4 and 5
Other studies demonstrated that better removal of phenol and antibiotic penicillin G by Fe+3-TiO2/UV process occurred at acidic pH [13, 17], the results of Bushnqe’s study (2006) indicated that pH had a little effect on direct photolysis of atrazine; as a matter of fact, increasing the pH caused higher degradation of atrazine [26]

Summary

Introduction

Atrazine is a herbicide that is widely used to control broadleaf and grassy weeds for growing many crops especially in maize production. It is a frequently detected herbicide in many groundwater resources. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of using ultraviolet radiation UV and fortified nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) doped with trivalent iron to remove atrazine from aqueous phase and determin the removal efficiency under the optimal conditions. Many studies reported that atrazine’s half-life in the aqueous phase and groundwater resources ranges from 41 to 237 days and 15 months to 20 years, respectively [4]. Long-term effects of Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) [7] and photocatalytic oxidation process are efficient methods relying on hydroxyl radicals (OH°) production to completely oxidize pesticide pollutants and degradation products and convert them into H2O and CO2 [8, 9]

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Conclusion