VACUUM-ULTRAVIOLET (VUV) PHOTOLYSIS OF WATER - MINERALIZATION OF ATRAZINE

The versatility and efficiency of the VUV photolysis of water as an '' Advanced Oxidation Procedure' for the light-induced oxidative degradat ion of atrazine as a pollutant of surface and ground waters is evaluat ed. The oxidation of atrazine using TiO2 as a photocatalyst has been r eported to produce almost stoichiometric amounts of cyanuric acid. Min eralization to CO2, water and inorganic nitrogen containing ions occur red to a very low extent implying that cyanuric acid is resistant to f urther degradation under the chosen experimental conditions. Our prese nt results show that in oxygen saturated solutions 50% of the initial atrazine is converted to cyanuric acid, whereas only 10% of the initia l atrazine is isolated as cyanuric acid in argon saturated solutions. The results indicate that mineralization is more efficient in not stri ctly oxidative reaction media.