Yingying Xiang

Bromate formation in bromide-containing water through the cobalt-mediated activation of peroxymonosulfate

Bromate formation in bromide-containing water through the cobalt (Co)-mediated activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) was investigated. Increasing the PMS dosage and the cobalt dosage increased the formation of bromate and bromate yields of up to 100% were recorded under the test conditions. The bromate yield increased to a maximum as the pH rose from 2.7 to 6 before decreasing by over 90% as the pH rose further from 6 to above 9. The bromate formation is a two-step process involving free bromine as a key intermediate and bromate as the final product. In the first step, apart from the known oxidation of bromide to free bromine and of free bromine to bromate by sulfate radicals (SO4(-)), Co(III) produced from the oxidation of Co(II) by PMS and SO4(-) also oxidizes bromide to free bromine. The contribution of Co(III) to the bromate formation was verified with the addition of methanol and EDTA, a radical scavenger and a Co(III) ligand, respectively. In the presence of methanol, free bromine formation increased with increasing Co(II) dosage but no bromate was detected, indicating that Co(III) oxidized bromide to form free bromine but not bromate. In the presence of both EDTA and methanol, no free bromine or bromate was detected, as Co(III) was stabilized by EDTA to form the Co(III)EDTA(-) complex, which could not oxidize bromide. Mathematical simulation further suggested that Co(III) outweighed SO4(-) to oxidize bromide to free bromine. On the other hand, SO4(-) is essential for the oxidation of free bromine to bromate in the second step. In real water, the presence of NOM significantly decreased the bromate formation but caused the brominated organic DBP formation with high quantity. This is the first study to demonstrate the significant bromate formation in the Co/PMS system and the substantial contribution of Co(III) to the formation.

DBP formation from degradation of DEET and ibuprofen by UV/chlorine process and subsequent post-chlorination

The formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) from the degradation of N,N-diethyl-3-methyl benzoyl amide (DEET) and ibuprofen (IBP) by the ultraviolet irradiation (UV)/chlorine process and subsequent post-chlorination was investigated and compared with the UV/H2O2 process. The pseudo first-order rate constants of the degradation of DEET and IBP by the UV/chlorine process were 2 and 3.1 times higher than those by the UV/H2O2 process, respectively, under the tested conditions. This was due to the significant contributions of both reactive chlorine species (RCS) and hydroxyl radicals (HO) in the UV/chlorine process. Trichloromethane, 1,1,1-trichloro-2-propanone and dichloroacetic acid were the major known DBPs formed after 90% of both DEET and IBP that were degraded by the UV/chlorine process. Their yields increased by over 50% after subsequent 1-day post-chlorination. The detected DBPs after the degradation of DEET and IBP comprised 13.5% and 19.8% of total organic chlorine (TOCl), respectively, and the proportions increased to 19.8% and 33.9% after subsequent chlorination, respectively. In comparison to the UV/H2O2 process accompanied with post-chlorination, the formation of DBPs and TOCl in the UV/chlorine process together with post-chlorination was 5%-63% higher, likely due to the generation of more DBP precursors from the attack of RCS, in addition to HO.