Photodegradation experiments

Koester and Hites (1992) studied the photodegradation of CDDs naturally adsorbed to five fly ash samples (two from coal-fired plants, two from municipal incinerators, and one from a hospital incinerator). Although the authors reported that CDDs underwent photolysis in solution and on silica gel, no significant degradation was observed in 11 photodegradation experiments conducted for periods ranging from 2 to 6 days. 

By means of TOC analyzes carried out during photodegradation experiments in closed and continuous membrane photoreactors it was observed that some oxidation products pass through the membrane. Therefore, further investigation is in progress to analyze this aspect. 

The enormous number of chemical substrates that have already been subjected to photodegradation experiments in water with or without auxiliary oxidants or photocatalysts (Fig. 5-17) includes inorganic ions and molecules, e.g. free and... 

Example 2. A forced photodegradation experiment results in 10% main band loss. Many individual degradants are observed, of which the largest is 0.8%. Since no individual impurity exceeds 10% total degradation, none are judged significant. 

Photodegradation of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac produced carbazole-l-acetate as the major product (Figure 1.12) (Moore et al. 1990). In a lake under natural conditions, it was rapidly decomposed photochemically though none of the products produced in laboratory experiments could be detected (Buser et al. 1998). 

Another mechanism for alkanone-sensitized photodehydrochlorination comprises Norrish type I scission of the ketone, followed by ground-state reactions of radicals (19). However, the evidence for such a mechanism is based on experiments that were carried out in the vapor phase (19). Initiation of the photodegradation of PVC by hexachloroacetone has been suggested to involve the abstraction of hydrogen from the polymer by radicals resulting from the photolysis of the ketone s carbon-chlorine bonds (22). 

A number of recent studies have been concerned with the effects of commercial heat stabilizers on the photodegradation of PVC. During irradiation at room temperature under air with 253.7-nm light, several dialkyltin dicarboxylates were found to increase the rates of the photooxidation and cross-linking of the polymer (62). However, at 0°C under air in a sunshine weatherometer, photooxidation was shown to be retarded by certain dibutyltin dicarboxylates (63). The latter result was also obtained in experiments involving the use of dibutyltin maleate with irradiation in the (280-400)-nm wavelength region at 38°C under air (50,51,64, 5,66). 

Experiments done in the absence of an external stress showed that the effects of degradation crosslinking are significant at relatively short times of UV exposure, and confirmed that the photodegradation is essentially in the surface layers. The oxidized layer thickness appeared to remain more or less constant after a certain exposure. 

During photolysis, the double bond content of the polysilane(P-l)(15mol% in this experiment) decreased to 10mol%, as measured by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. However, the ratio, quantum yield of scission(Q(S))/quantum yield of crosslinking(Q(X)), was not affected by the reaction of the double bond. West and his coworkers have reported that poly((2-(3-cyclohexenyl)-ethyl)methylsilane-co-methylphenylsilane) crosslinked upon irradiation(55). The difference between our results and West s may lie in the amount of the double bond and inhibitation of the radical closslinking by the phenol moiety. Polysilane with a halogen moiety, P-8, photodecomposed rapidly, compared with P-1 or P-3. The introduction of a chloride moiety was effective for the sensitization of the photodegradation. Similar results has already been reported(55). 

Jang and McDow (1997) studied the photodegradation of benzo[a]anthracene in the presence of three common constituents of atmospheric aerosols reported to accelerate benzo [a] anthracene, namely 9,10-anthroquinone, 9-xanthone, and vanillin. The photo-degradation experiments were conducted using a photochemical reactor equipped with a 450-W medium pressure mercury arc lamp and a water bath to maintain the solution temperature at 16 °C. The concentration of benzo [a] anthracene and co-solutes was 10" M. Irradiation experiments were conducted in toluene, benzene, and benzene-c/e- Products identified by GC/MS, FTIR, and NMR included benzo[a]an-thracene-7,12-dione, phthalic acid, phthalic anhydride, 1,2-benzenedicarboxaldehyde, naphtha-lene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid/anhydride, 7,12-dihydrobenzo[a]anthracene, 10-benzyl-10-hydroan-thracen-9-one, benzyl alcohol, and 1,2-diphenylethanol. 

Photolytic. The major photolysis and hydrolysis products identified in distilled water were pentachlorocyclopentenone and hexachlorocyclopentenone. In mineralized water, the products identified include cis- and /ra/3s-pentachlorobutadiene, tetrachlorobutenyne, and pentachloro-pentadienoic acid (Chou and Griffin, 1983). In a similar experiment, irradiation of hexachlorocyclopentadiene in water by mercury-vapor lamps resulted in the formation of 2,3,4,4,5-pentachloro-2-cyclopentenone. This compound hydrolyzed partially to hexachloroindenone (Butz et ah, 1982). Other photodegradation products identified include hexachloro-2-cyclopentenone and hexachloro-3-cyclopentenone as major products. Secondary photodegradation products reported include pentachloro-as-2,4-pentadienoic acid, Z- and A-pentachlorobutadiene, and tetrachloro-butyne (Chou et ah, 1987). In natural surface waters, direct photolysis of hexachlorobutadiene via sunlight results in a half-life of 10.7 min (Wolfe et al, 1982). 

CjTCDD on a silica plate was exposed to summer sunlight at Beltsville, MD for 20 h. A polar product was formed which was not identified. An identical experiment using soil demonstrated that photodegradation occurred but to a smaller extent. No photoproducts were identified (Plimmer, 1978). TCDD on a silica plate was exposed to a GE Model RS sunlamp at a distance of 1.0 m. The estimated photolytic half-life for this reaction is 140 h (Nestrlck et al., 1980). 

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