Radiation-induced degradation of aqueous 2-chlorophenol assisted by zeolites

Kumagai, Yuta   ; Kimura, Atsushi*; Taguchi, Mitsumasa*; Watanabe, Masayuki   

We studied effect of adsorption and condensation by zeolites on radiation-induced degradation of aqueous 2-chlorophenol (2-ClPh). This study aims to demonstrate that the solid-phase extraction using zeolites has potential advantage in treatments of aqueous organic pollutants. Among three zeolites examined in this study, a mordenite type zeolite (HMOR) that has a high Si to Al ratio (127 3) exhibited preferable performance as the matrix for the 2-ClPh degradation. HMOR adsorbed far more 2-ClPh than the other zeolites, which have lower Si/Al ratios. The irradiation of HMOR induced degradation of adsorbed 2-ClPh into Cl and organic by-products. We found a significant increase in Cl production by HMOR. The yield of Cl production in the presence of HMOR was as high as the yield in aqueous solution of 2-ClPh at a concentration 10 times higher. The increased Cl production indicates that the high concentration of adsorbed 2-ClPh led to effective use of the adsorbed energy of HMOR.