Abatement of Polybrominated Molecules by Various Radiative Methods

Abstract

This study presents new aspects in photochemical degradation of Tetrabromobisphenol A bis (2,3‐dibromopropylether) (TBBPA‐DBPE). The reaction kinetics were followed in particular by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as well as by ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy, and the byproducts of degradation were characterized using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). A good agreement was obtained from the results of different analytical methods in terms of the overall conversion of TBBPA‐DBPE and the corresponding rate. The obtained results show that the photodegradation of TBBPA‐DBPE can be described by pseudo‐first‐order kinetics. It is interesting to mention a strong presence of a large number of low molecular weight molecules, which proves the efficiency of the radiative treatment, as these products contain only a low amount of bromine.