Abstract
Nitrite and natural organic matters (NOM) are well known to be involved in photochemical processes occurring in natural waters. In this study, phenol is chosen as model molecule to investigate the role of nitrite ions or NOM towards the transformation of organic matters in aqueous solutions under simulated sunlight irradiation. All experiments were performed in pure water at pH 7. The results indicated that phenol phototransformation rate increased with increasing nitrite or NOM concentrations as expected. And •OH radical was demonstrated to be the main relative free radical according to the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and isopropanol quenching experiments. But unexpectedly, the presence of NOM would inhibit nitrite ions-sensitized photolysis of phenol, and it might be attributed to the ROS quenching and light screening effect of NOM. The results imply that for accurate ecological risk assessment of organic pollutants, the integrated effect of water constituent on the environmental photochemical behavior of organic pollutants should not be ignored.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
