boron and 2-6-dichlorobenzamide

For electrochemical oxidation to become applicable in water treatment outside of laboratories, a number of challenges must be elucidated. One is the formation and fate of degradation intermediates of targeted organics. In this study the degradation of the pesticide residue 2,6-dichlorobenzamide, an important groundwater pollutant, was investigated in a chloride rich solution with the purpose of studying the effect of active chlorine on the degradation pathway. To study the relative importance of the anodic oxidation and active chlorine oxidation in the bulk solution, a non-active BDD and an active Pt anode were compared. Also, the effect of the active chlorine oxidation on the total amount of degradation intermediates was investigated. We found that for 2,6-dichlorobenzamide, active chlorine oxidation was determining for the initial step of the degradation, and therefore yielded a completely different set of degradation intermediates compared to an inert electrolyte. For the Pt anode, the further degradation of the intermediates was also largely dependent on active chlorine oxidation, while for the BDD anode anodic oxidation was most important. It was also found that the presence of active chlorine led to fewer degradation intermediates compared to treatment in an inert electrolyte.

Topics: Benzamides; Boron; Chlorides; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Diamond; Electrochemical Techniques; Electrodes; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Molecular Structure; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxygen; Pesticide Residues; Platinum; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Water Purification

Electrochemical oxidation is a promising technique for degradation of otherwise recalcitrant organic micropollutants in waters. In this study, the applicability of electrochemical oxidation was investigated concerning the degradation of the groundwater pollutant 2,6-dichlorobenzamide (BAM) through the electrochemical oxygen transfer process with two anode materials: Ti/Pt90-Ir10 and boron doped diamond (Si/BDD). Besides the efficiency of the degradation of the main pollutant, it is also of outmost importance to control the formation and fate of stable degradation intermediates. These were investigated quantitatively with HPLC-MS and TOC measurements and qualitatively with a combined HPLC-UV and HPLC-MS protocol. 2,6-Dichlorobenzamide was found to be degraded most efficiently by the BDD cell, which also resulted in significantly lower amounts of intermediates formed during the process. The anodic degradation pathway was found to occur via substitution of hydroxyl groups until ring cleavage leading to carboxylic acids. For the BDD cell, there was a parallel cathodic degradation pathway that occurred via dechlorination. The combination of TOC with the combined HPLC-UV/MS was found to be a powerful method for determining the amount and nature of degradation intermediates.

Topics: Benzamides; Boron; Carboxylic Acids; Diamond; Electrochemical Techniques; Electrodes; Iridium; Oxidation-Reduction; Pesticide Residues; Platinum; Water Pollutants, Chemical