Effective Degradation of Fipronil Using Combined Catalytic Ozonation Processes

Effective removal of Fipronil, an agricultural pollutant, was studied here by coupling heterogeneous catalyst (Degussa P-25 TiO2 nanopowder) with molecular ozone. Compared to molecular ozone alone (74%), enhanced activity (89%) was noted with a coupled TiO2/O-3 system at 40 min, which is due to the generation of active superoxide ion species by surface adsorption and reaction of TiO2 with the molecular ozone. The catalytic activity quantification was followed by liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry.