Chapter 4 Photodecomposition of triazine derivatives in aqueous medium using hydrogen peroxide and ferric perchlorate

The photodegradations of 2,4,6-trimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine (TMT), 2,4-dioxohexahydro-1,3,5-triazine(DHT), 6-chloro N-ethyl N’-(1methylethyl)-1,3,5–triazine, 2,4 diamine (atrazine, AT) and cyanuric acid (CA) have been investigated in aqueous medium in the presence of ferric perchlorate as photopromotor using sunlight and UV light. The hydroxyl radical (OH) generated from the photoreaction of the complex Fe(OH), is likely to be the major active reagent. The degradation of these triazines was also studied using photolysis of H2O2 in which OH is undoubtedly the active species. Comparison of these two methods demonstrates that photolysis in the presence of ferric perchlorate is more effective for the degradation of triazines. It is proposed that in ferric mediated degradation, photoinduced electron transfer in the Fe(III)-T complex formed between Fe(III) and triazines (T) is an additional pathway in the degradation of triazines.