42 research outputs found
Sustainable and green persulfate-based chemiluminescent method for on-site estimation of chemical oxygen demand in waters
The standard method for estimating the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of water bodies uses dichromate as the
main oxidant, a chemical agent whose use has been restricted in the European Union since 2017. This method is
hazardous, time-consuming, and burdensome to adapt to on-site measurements. As an alternative and following
the current trends of sustainable and green chemistry, a method using the less toxic reagent sodium persulfate as
the oxidizing agent has been developed. In this method an excess of persulfate, activated through heating in an
alkaline solution, oxidizes the chemically degradable organic fraction through a 2-step radical mechanism. The
remaining persulfate is evaluated by chemiluminescence (CL) using luminol and a portable charge-coupled
device (CCD) camera. The method provided quantitative recoveries and a sample throughput of >60 samples
h. It was validated in river water samples by comparison of COD estimations with the standard dichromate
method (R = 0.973, p < 0.05) and with a UV鈥揤is permanganate-based method (R = 0.9998, p < 0.05), the latter
being also used for drinking waters. The proposed method is a sustainable and green alternative to the previous
used methods. Overall, the method using activated persulfate is suitable for use as COD quantitation/screening
tool in surface waters. Considering that its main components are portable, it can be ultimately adapted for in situ
analysis at the point of need