Photochemical processes for atrazine degradation: methodological approach

Numerous studies have been carried out on s-triazines, and more specifically on atrazine, with the long-term objective of resolving the problems caused by these herbicides: removing them from drinking water. However, applications have remained too limited. So far, processes based on photochemical degradation have been little implemented. We, therefore, investigated the development of photochemical processes, emphasizing their capacity to degrade triazine by photolytic and photocatalytic mode. The study sought to assess the performance of these systems. Experiments showed that according to a medium pressure mercury source (UV–Vis irradiation), the photolytic degradation of atrazine was very efficient, with a best atrazine degradation half-life shorter than 5 min. The main degradation pathway was deshalogenation. The photocatalytic degradation of atrazine under irradiation over 290 nm in the presence of titanium dioxide was shown to be efficient too, with a half-life of about 20 min. In this case an experimental design was conducted so as to assess the influence of various parameters: pH, water medium, and amount of catalyst. There has been observational evidence for the efficiency of the processes investigated here and for potential technological developments as regards drinking water treatment.