Effects of UV/H2O2 preoxidation on the aerobic biodegradability of quaternary amine surfactants

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of UV/H2O2 advanced oxidative pretreatment on the biodegradability of two major classes of quaternary amine surfactants. In this study, the biodegradability of unoxidized and oxidized solutions of quaternary amines were determined using BAS assays. UV/H2O2 preoxidation effectively enhanced the biodegradability of alkyldimethylbenzyl ammonium chlorides (Barquats), but had little effect on the biodegradability of dioctyl-dimethyl ammonium chloride (Bardac LF).