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Efficacy and mechanistic insights into endocrine disruptor degradation using atmospheric air plasma

Sarangapani, C.; Danaher, M.; Tiwari, Brijesh; Lu, Peng; Bourke, Paula; Cullen, P.J.

Authors

C. Sarangapani

M. Danaher

Brijesh Tiwari

Peng Lu

Paula Bourke

P.J. Cullen



Abstract

Endocrine disruptors are a class of contaminants found in water and process effluents at low concentrations. They are of concern due to their high estrogenic potency. Their presence in the environment has led to the search for effective techniques for their removal in wastewater. For this purpose, an atmospheric air plasma reactor was employed for the study of the degradation of three endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDC) namely; bisphenol A (BPA), estrone (E1) and 17?-estradiol (E2) within a model dairy effluent. Identification of the plasma induced active species both in the gas and liquid phases were performed. Also studied was the influence of an inhibitor, namely tertiary butanol, on the degradation of the EDCs. The results demonstrate that air plasma could successfully degrade the tested EDCs, achieving efficacies of 93% (k = 0.189 min?1) for BPA, 83% (k = 0.132 min?1) for E1 and 86% (k = 0.149 min?1) for E2, with the process following first order kinetics. The removal efficacy was reduced in the presence of a radical scavenger confirming the key role of oxygen radicals such as radical dotOH in the degradation process. The intermediate and final products generated in the degradation process were identified using UHPLC-MS and LC-MS. Based on the intermediates identified a proposed degradation pathway is presented.

Citation

Sarangapani, C., Danaher, M., Tiwari, B., Lu, P., Bourke, P., & Cullen, P. (2017). Efficacy and mechanistic insights into endocrine disruptor degradation using atmospheric air plasma. Chemical Engineering Journal, 326, 700-714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2017.05.178

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 30, 2017
Online Publication Date Jul 10, 2017
Publication Date Oct 15, 2017
Deposit Date Sep 18, 2020
Journal Chemical Engineering Journal
Print ISSN 1385-8947
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 326
Pages 700-714
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2017.05.178
Keywords Atmospheric air plasmaEndocrine disruptorsDegradation
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4912925
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1385894717309476