Enhancement of p,p'-DDT photodegradation on soil surfaces using TiO2 induced by UV-light

Enhancement of p,p'-DDT photodegradation on soil surfaces using TiO2 induced by UV-light was mainly investigated in this work. After being spiked with p,p'-DDT, soil samples loaded with different doses of TiO2 (0%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, and 3% wt) were exposed to UV-light irradiation for 24 h. The results indicated that the photodegradation of p,p'-DDT followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics. TiO2 accelerated the photodegradation of p,p'-DDT significantly as indicated by the half-life reduction from 23.3 h to 10.4 h, corresponding to the TiO2 content from 0% to 3% respectively. In addition, the effects of soil pH, photon flux and humic substances on p,p'-DDT degradation were investigated. The photodegradation rate increased with the increase of the soil pH and photon flux. The humic substances (2% wt) inhibited the p,p'-DDT photodegradation by reducing the amount of light available to excite the p,p'-DDT and TiO2 or by quenching radicals capable of oxidizing p,p'-DDT. p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDD and DDMU were main degradation intermediates and they were further degraded in the presence of TiO2.