Degradation of nitrobenzene in wastewater by γ-ray irradiation

Article type: Research Article

Authors: FENG, Shao-hong | ZHANG, Shu-juan | YU, Han-qing | LI, Qian-rong

Affiliations: Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China | Research Center for Physics & Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China

Note: [] Correspongin author. E-mail: hqyu@ustc.edu.cn

Abstract: The degradation of nitrobenzene (NB) by γ-ray irradiation was studied. The influences of dose rate and initial NB concentration were investigated in details. At a dose rate of 55 Gy/min, the degradation kinetics was pseudo-first-order at NB concentrations from 0.2 mmol/L to 4.0 mmol/L. At an initial NB concentration of 0.8 mmol/L, the degradation of NB at various dose rates also followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. Dissolved oxygen was found to have a positive effect on NB degradation. The degradation products were identified as nitrophenol, nitrosobenzene, and hydroquinone, and so on. Based on the product analysis, possible degradation pathways of nitrobenzene were proposed.

Keywords: degradation, irradiation, nitrobenzene(NB), kinetics

Journal: Journal of Environmental Sciences, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 364-366, 2004