Degradation of Triclosan by Photo-Fenton Oxidation

Abstract

Triclosan is one of the most used active ingredients in antibacterial personal care products and its usage increased in recent years. Triclosan has recently attracted the attention researchers from the fields of water treatment due to its existence in water environments. This study has been executed to investigate the removal of triclosan with photo-Fenton process and to observe by-product formation after oxidation. Effects of operational parameters namely the concentrations of Triclosan, H2O2 and Fe(II) on oxidation of triclosan were investigated by using Box-Behnken statistical experiment design and the surface response analysis. It was found that the triclosan concentration has a more profound effect than H2O2 and Fe(II) concentrations for removal of triclosan in the aqueous solution. Complete removal of triclosan was accomplished within a hour, however, complete mineralization was not occurred even within sixty minutes indicating formation of some intermediate compounds such as 2,4-Dichlorophenol and 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol. Optimal H2O2/Fe(II)/TCS ratio resulting by maximum triclosan removal (98.5%) was found to be 50/2/0.1, respectively.