Role of primary reaction initiated by 254 nm UV light in the degradation of p-nitrophenol attacked by hydroxyl radicals.
The degradation kinetics of p-nitrophenol (p-NP) exposed to 254/185 nm UV light were studied in two modes, i.e., 254 nm UV light intensity enhanced mode and normal mode. It was observed that the extra 254 nm UV light source accelerated the degradation process both in the presence and the absence of oxygen. Considering that hydroxyl radical (*OH) is the dominant factor that causes the degradation of p-NP, the enhanced degradation that occurred in the presence of the extra light source was attributed to the synergistic effect between *OH attack and the primary reactions initiated by 254 nm UV light. The synergistic effect has been confirmed by 266 nm laser flash photolysis (LFP) experiments. It is demonstrated that the phenoxy radical generated from the photoionization of p-NP is capable of reacting with *OH. On the basis of these results, it should be noted that UV light could cause more severe damage to p-NP attacked by *OH in aqueous solution.
Potential of Ceria-Based Catalysts for the Oxidation of Landfill Leachate by Heterogeneous Fenton Process
In this study, ceria and ceria-zirconia solid solutions were tested as catalyst for the treatment of landfill leachate with a Fenton-like process. The catalysts considered in this work were pure ceria and ceria-zirconia solid solutions as well as iron-doped samples. All the catalysts were extensively characterized and applied in batch Fenton-like reactions by a close batch system, the COD (chemical oxygen demand) and TOC (total organic carbon) parameters were carried out before and after the treatments in order to assay oxidative abatement. Results show a measurable improvement of the TOC and COD abatement using ceria-based catalysts in Fenton-like process and the best result was achieved for iron-doped ceria-zirconia solid solution. Our outcomes point out that heterogeneous Fenton technique could be effectively used for the treatment of landfill leachate and it is worth to be the object of further investigations.
*H atom and *OH radical reactions with 5-methylcytosine.
The reactions between either a hydrogen atom or a hydroxyl radical and 5-methylcytosine (5-MeCyt) are studied by using the hybrid kinetic energy meta-GGA functional MPW1B95. *H atom and *OH radical addition to positions C5 and C6 of 5-MeCyt, or *OH radical induced H-abstraction from the C5 methyl group, are explored. All systems are optimized in bulk solvent. The data presented show that the barriers to reaction are very low: ca. 7 kcal/mol for the *H atom additions and 1 kcal/mol for the reactions involving the *OH radical. Thermodynamically, the two C6 radical adducts and the *H-abstraction product are the most stable ones. The proton hyperfine coupling constants (HFCC), computed at the IEFPCM/MPW1B95/6-311++G(2d,2p) level, agree well with B3LYP results and available experimental and theoretical data on related thymine and cytosine radicals.