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Updated: Feb 17, 2026

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Organic Peroxyacids for Eradicating Dairy Biofilms Using an Approach Combining Static and Dynamic Methods
Published on: December 9, 2022
Thermodynamic properties of an emerging chemical disinfectant, peracetic acid
Chiqian Zhang1, Pamela J B Brown2, Zhiqiang Hu1
1Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, United States.
Abstract:
Peracetic acid (PAA or CH3COOOH) is an emerging disinfectant with a low potential to form carcinogenic disinfection by-products (DBPs). Basic thermodynamic properties of PAA are, however, absent or inconsistently reported in the literature. This review aimed to summarize important thermodynamic properties of PAA, including standard Gibbs energy of formation and oxidation-reduction (redox) potential. The standard Gibbs energies of formation of CH3COOOH(aq), CH3COOOH(g), CH3COOOH(l), and CH3COOO(aq)- are -299.41kJ·mol-1, -283.02kJ·mol-1, -276.10kJ·mol-1, and -252.60kJ·mol-1, respectively. The standard redox potentials of PAA are 1.748V and 1.005V vs. standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) at pH 0 and pH 14, respectively. Under biochemical standard state conditions (pH 7, 25°C, 101,325Pa), PAA has a redox potential of 1.385V vs. SHE, higher than many disinfectants. Finally, the environmental implications of the thermodynamic properties of PAA were systematically discussed. Those properties can be used to predict the physicochemical and biological behavior of aquatic systems exposed to PAA.
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