Ultrasonic destruction of bisphenol-A: the operating parameters

Degradation of bisphenol-A (BPA) by ultrasonic irradiation at 300 kHz was investigated at varying substrate concentrations, pH, hydroxyl radical scavengers and sparge gases. It was found that increases in BPA initial concentration slowed down the reaction rate, but enhanced the sonochemical product yield. Both the rate of reaction and the product yield were adversely affected by pH elevation above the neutral level. The degree of BPA decay was fastest in the presence of air due to the formation of acids and excess radicals, and slowed down as the gas was replaced by argon and oxygen. The impact of large concentrations of hydroxyl radical scavengers such as carbonate and t-butanol was to decrease the rate of degradation, particularly when the scavenger concentration was considerably larger than that of BPA, and the deceleration was more remarkable in the presence of t-butanol than in that of carbonate.