Aquatic and Surface Photochemistry

Book excerpt: Aquatic and Surface Photochemistry provides a broad overview of current research in the emerging field of environmental aquatic and surface photochemistry. Selected reviews and current research articles are blended to provide an in-depth treatment of various aspects of this research area. The first part of the text deals with photochemistry in the environment, covering recent research on the following topics: aquatic photochemistry of organic pollutants and agrochemicals, photochemical cycling of carbon and transition metals (especially iron), photochemical formation of reactive oxygen species in natural waters, photoreaction in cloud and rain droplets, and photoreactions on environmental surfaces (soil, ash, metal, oxide). The second part provides discussions and data on both heterogeneous photocatalytic and homogeneous processes, with topics ranging from applications to mechanistic studies. These chapters illustrate the wide diversity of pollutant classes that are degradable by photochemical techniques and the effects of various reaction conditions on the rates and efficiency of the techniques. Current kinetic studies are presented, which provide new information about the role of adsorption and the nature of the reactive oxidizing species that mediate these photoremediation processes.This book will interest civil, chemical, and environmental engineers, as well as chemists, soil scientists, geochemists, and atmospheric chemists.