Kinetics and Mechanism for the Sonophotocatalytic Degradation of p-Chlorobenzoic Acid

The advanced oxidation processes of sonolysis (213 kHz), photocatalysis, and a hybrid combination of both (sonophotocatalysis) have been used in the degradation of a representative aromatic carboxylic acid, p-chlorobenzoic acid (PCBA), in ambient air saturated aqueous solutions. The formation of degradation products were monitored quantitatively and qualitatively using HPLC and MS/MS. A kinetic model was used to account for the degradation of the PCBA in the presence of intermediate degradation products and also their formation and subsequent degradation. Under certain experimental conditions a small (20% enhancement) synergistic effect in the degradation rate was evident in the combined process compared with the sum of the individual processes.