Heterogeneous photodegradation of bisphenol A with iron oxides and oxalate in aqueous solution

Abstract

To understand the degradation of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) with existence of iron oxides and polycarboxylic acids in the natural environment, the photodegradation of bisphenol A (BPA) at the interface of iron oxides under UV illumination was conducted. Four iron oxides were prepared by a hydrothermal process and then sintered at different temperatures of 65, 280, 310, and 420¢XC named "O-65," "IO-280," "IO-310," and "IO-420," respectively. The prepared iron oxides were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer¡VEmmett¡VTeller (BET) methods. The XRD pattern of IO-65 showed a crystal structure of lepidocrocite (£^ -FeOOH) and that of IO-420 demonstrated a crystal structure of hematite (£\-Fe?O?), while IO-280 and IO-310 have the mixed crystal structures of maghemite (£^ -Fe?O?) and hematite. The BET results revealed that the specific surface areas decreased with the increase of sintering temperature. The results demonstrated th