Effective Degradation of Fipronil Using Combined Catalytic Ozonation Processes

Abstract

Effective removal of Fipronil, an agricultural pollutant, was studied here by coupling heterogeneous catalyst (Degussa P-25 TiO₂ nanopowder) with molecular ozone. Compared to molecular ozone alone (74%), enhanced activity (89%) was noted with a coupled TiO₂/O₃ system at 40 min, which is due to the generation of active superoxide ion species by surface adsorption and reaction of TiO₂ with the molecular ozone. The catalytic activity quantification was followed by liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry.

Keywords:

• Ozone
• Catalytic Ozonation
• TiO₂
• Fipronil
• HPLC
• Mass Spectrometry

Additional information

Funding

The authors wish to thank the Ministry of India (GITA/DST/TWN/P-50/ 2013) and National Science Council (NSC-102-2923-035-001-MY3), Taiwan for the sanction of India-Taiwan collaborative research grant.