Photocatalytic degradation of atrazine herbicide with Illuminated Fe+3-TiO2 Nanoparticles

Narges Shamsedini; Mansooreh Dehghani; Simin Nasseri; Mohammad Ali Baghapour

doi:10.1186/s40201-017-0270-6

Photocatalytic degradation of atrazine herbicide with Illuminated Fe⁺³-TiO₂ Nanoparticles

J Environ Health Sci Eng. 2017 Mar 14:15:7. doi: 10.1186/s40201-017-0270-6. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Narges Shamsedini¹, Mansooreh Dehghani², Simin Nasseri³, Mohammad Ali Baghapour⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
² Research Center for Health Sciences, Department of Environmental Health, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
³ Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Department of Environmental Health, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Atrazine is a herbicide that is widely used to control broadleaf and grassy weeds for growing many crops especially in maize production. It is a frequently detected herbicide in many groundwater resources. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of using ultraviolet radiation UV and fortified nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) doped with trivalent iron to remove atrazine from aqueous phase and determin the removal efficiency under the optimal conditions.

Results: The results of this study demonstrated that the maximum atrazine removal rate was at pH = 11 in the presence of Fe^{+ 3}-TiO₂ catalyst =25 mg/L and the initial concentration of atrazine equal to 10 mg/L. As the reaction time increased, the removal rate of herbicide increased as well. Atrazine removal rate was enhanced by the effect of UV radiation on catalyst activation in Fe⁺³-TiO₂/UV process. It was also revealed that pH has no significant effect on atrazine removal efficiency (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Based on the data obtained in this study, atrazine removal efficiency was increased by increasing pH, initial atrazine concentration, catalyst, and contact time. The results also showed Fe⁺³-TiO₂/UV process was an appropriate method to reduce atrazine in contaminated water resources. In conclusion, Fe⁺³-TiO₂/UV process may enhance the rate of atrazine reduction in highly polluted water resources (more than 99%).

Keywords: Atrazine; Degradation; Fe+3-TiO2 Nanoparticles; Herbicide; Photocatalytic.