Abstract

Tribromophenol (TBP) is a halogenated phenol mainly used as an intermediate of flame retardants in the electronics manufacturing industry as well as a fungicide in the wood industry to prevent fungal wood stain and decay. As a result of this massive use, its bio-availability, toxicity, and environmental fate are of increasing concern worldwide. TBP degradation by a catechol (CAT)-driven Fenton reaction was studied. In order to achieve the best yield in TBP degradation, an experimental design was applied for multivariate optimization of the experimental degrading system variables. At optimized concentrations, the CAT- driven Fenton reaction yielded 75% TBP degradation in 2 h at room temperature. The multivariate optimization showed that the highest TBP degradation (1 mol base) was obtained at a ratio of CAT: FeCl3: H2O2 = 0.150 : 0.211: 5.100 at pH = 3.4. A time course degradation of TBP comparing the CAT-driven Fenton reaction with the classical Fenton reaction is also presented. During the first hours of reaction (up to 8h), increased degradation efficiencies were observed in the CAT-driven Fenton reaction in comparison with the conventional Fenton reaction. Possible causes for the observed behavior are also discussed.