Photodegradation and adsorption of hexazinone in aqueous solutions: removal efficiencies, kinetics, and mechanisms

Hexazinone, a globally applied broad-spectrum triazine herbicide, has not been mechanistically investigated previously under advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and adsorption on activated carbon. In this study, its fate during UV-based oxidation with/without hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and adsorption on coconut shell–based granular activated carbon (CSGAC) in water matrices was investigated. A comparison between various irradiation sources (visible, UVA, UVB, and UVC) revealed the highest degradation rate under UVC. More than 98% degradation of hexazinone was observed under 3 J cm(−2) UVC fluence in the presence of 0.5 mM H(2)O(2) at pH 7. Moreover, the degradation rate enhanced significantly with an increase in the initial dosage of H(2)O(2), UV fluence, and contact time in the UV/H(2)O(2) process. The rate of degradation was lower using secondary effluent than that of Milli-Q water due to the presence of dissolved organics in wastewater. However, the reactions in both matrices obeyed pseudo-first-order kinetics. The effect of different scavengers, including methanol, potassium iodide (KI), and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA), showed that hydroxyl radicals ((•)OH) played a dominant role in hexazinone degradation in the UV/H(2)O(2) process. Hexazinone was effectively adsorbed by CSGAC through π-π electron donor–acceptor interactions between hexazinone’s triazine ring and CSGAC’s surface functional groups. The isotherm and kinetic studies showed that the adsorption followed the Freundlich model and pseudo-second-order reaction, respectively, suggesting chemisorption. This study provided mechanistic insights on the removal of hexazinone at the tertiary stage of wastewater treatment or the advanced treatment of wastewater reuse. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-19205-y.