Degradation of the herbicide tebuthiuron using solar photo-Fenton process and ferric citrate complex at circumneutral pH

The influence of pH on the degradation of the herbicide tebuthiuron (TBH) was investigated using in situ generated Fe(III)–citrate complexes (Fe:cit) submitted to the photo-Fenton process under solar irradiation. Using Fe:cit in a wide pH range (2.5–7.5), 100–78% TBH oxidation was achieved respectively from a UV dose of 2.0 J cm−2 (15 min). Moreover, the oxidation of TBH obtained in the presence of Fe:cit at pH 6.0 was higher than that obtained using Fe(NO3)3 at pH 2.5. A similar behavior is observed for the removal of total organic carbon (TOC) in TBH solutions. In the presence of Fe:cit, 20% and 85% of TOC was removed at pH 7.5 and 2.5, respectively, after 7.5 J cm−2 irradiation, while no mineralization was observed employing Fe(NO3)3 for the same UV dose. Using Fe(NO3)3, mineralization was observed only after 11 J cm−2 (8%). A higher mineralization rate was obtained with Fe(NO3)3 only when a concentration three times higher was employed at pH 2.5. Besides the high efficiency of TBH degradation observed using the ferric citrate complex in the solar photo-Fenton process, it also offers the advantage of application at a pH of up to 7.5.