(277f) Photochemical Degradation of Atrazine in Water Using Novel Photocatalyst

Herbicides are classified as one of the types of pesticides sprayed to prevent broadleaf weeds and grasses, among which atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethyl-amino-6-isopropylamino-1, 3, 5-triazine) is ordinary and well explored but toxic if consumed. The water resources mostly ground and surface water displays significant atrazine contamination due to its high water solubility (i.e. at 20⁰C 33mg/L). The present work revolves around the photochemical degradation of atrazine in water using a novel graphene assisted palladium nanoparticles (G-Pd NPs). The synthesized nanoparticles were found highly reactive with high surface area and low band gap. Structural and chemical properties of the solid material were characterized using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) respectively. The surface area was calculated using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). Degradation kinetics and formation of intermediate products during degradation were analyzed using Liquid chromatography – Mass Spectroscopy (LC–MS) techniques. Around 87-90 % atrazine degradation was observed during photochemical reaction using visible light and UV light source in 15mins at 1g/L catalyst loading. Moreover, catalytic activity of nanoparticles in atrazine containing water has been investigated at molecular level via MD simulations and the work is in progress. As reported in literature atrazine was difficult to degrade but this novel catalyst composition is found promising to achieve the same task.