Application of quantum chemical descriptors into quantitative structure-property relationship models for prediction of the photolysis half-life of PCBs in water

Quantitative structure-property relationship(QSPR)models were developed for prediction of photolysis half-life(t_(1/2))of polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)in water under ultraviolet(UV)radiation.Quantum chemical descriptors computed by the PM3 Hamiltonian software were used as independent variables.The cross-validated Q^(2)_(cum)value for the optimal QSPR model is 0.966,indicating good prediction capability for lg t_(1/2)values of PCBs in water.The QSPR results show that the largest negative atomic charge on a carbon atom(Q-C)and the standard heat of formation(ΔH_(f))have a dominant effect on t_(1/2)values of PCBs.Higher Q_(C)^(-)values or lowerΔHf values of the PCBs leads to higher lg t_(1/2)values.In addition,the lg t_(1/2)values of PCBs increase with the increase in the energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital values.Increasing the largest positive atomic charge on a chlorine atom and the most positive net atomic charge on a hydrogen atom in PCBs leads to the decrease of lg t_(1/2)values.

A high activity of Ti/SnO_2-Sb electrode in the electrochemicaldegradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol in aqueous solution

Electrochemicaldegradation of2,4-dichlorophenol （2,4-DCP） in aqueous solutionwas investigated over Ti/SnO2-Sb anode. The factors influencing thedegradation rate, such as applied currentdensity （2-40 mA/cm2 ）, pH （3-11） and initial concentration （5-200 mg/L）were evaluated. Thedegradation of2,4-DCP followed apparent pseudo first-order kinetics. Thedegradation ratio on Ti/SnO2 -Sb anode attained 〉 99.9% after 20 min of electrolysis at initial 5-200 mg/L concentrations at a constant currentdensity of 30 mA/cm2 with a 10 mmol/L sodium sulphate （Na2SO4 ） supporting electrolyte solution. The results showed that 2,4-DCP （100 mg/L）degradation and total organic carbon （TOC） removal ratio achieved 99.9% and 92.8%, respectively, at the optimal conditions after 30 min electrolysis. Under this condition, thedegradation rate constant （k） and thedegradation half-life （t1/2 ）were 0.21 min1 and （2.8 ± 0.2） min, respectively. Mainly carboxylic acids （propanoic acid, maleic acid, propanedioic acid, acetic acid and oxalic acid） weredetected as intermediates. The energy efficiencies for2,4-DCPdegradation （5-200 mg/L）with Ti/SnO2-Sb anode ranged from 0.672 to 1.602 g/kWh. The Ti/SnO2-Sb anodewith a high activity to rapid organic oxidation could be employed todegrade chlorophenols, particularly2,4-DCP inwastewater.