Atrazine Removal from Aqueous Solutions Using Hydrogen Peroxide-Modified Powdered Activated Carbon

Abstract

Atrazine is a triazine herbicide that is commonly used in the Philippines to manage weeds in crops such as sugarcane, maize and rice. However, it has been polluting the surface and groundwater because of its persistence and solubility in water that causes health concerns such as endocrine disruption and cancer. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) is used as a treatment for the removing contaminants in drinking water treatment plants due to its high efficiency and low cost, but has problems with its regeneration and saturation limits. Therefore, this study involves the use of PAC and to modify it with H2O2 in order to improve atrazine removal by introducing oxidation by reactive radicals which allows the process to be more effective and sustainable. The spectrophotometric analysis at 450 nm indicated that the atrazine concentration was reduced consistently among the treatments. The results from the analysis suggest that with the increasing H2O2 concentration used for modification, the atrazine removal efficiency also increases which implies the importance of oxidative activation of adsorption capacity and the surface reactivity. Meanwhile, the optimal H₂O₂ concentration is the balance between enhanced surface functionality and structural stability, achieving maximum removal efficiency.