The degradation of IBP was investigated by UV/Fe3+/Oxone process.
IBP decay was found to follow pseudo first-order kinetics.
Experimental results also show that the performance of UV/Fe3+/Oxone process was influenced by operating parameters,such as the concentration of Fe3+ and Oxone, initial solution pH,
and inorganic salts. Optimum IBP removal efficiency was observed at an initial solution pH of 3.0 within the investigated pH range of 2.0–4.0. Optimum molar ratio of Fe3+/Oxone/IBP was identified to be 2:2:1. The presence of certain inorganic anions exerted a significant
effect on the UV/Fe3+/Oxone process. It was found that Cl,SO4 2 and H2PO4 demonstrated adverse effects on IBP degradation,among which H2PO4 exhibited the most significant influence in the
process. The existence of NO3, however, slightly facilitated the decomposition of IBP. In addition, 19 intermediates were identified during IBP degradation by UV/Fe3+/Oxone process. The possible decay pathways were proposed accordingly. Decarboxylation and
hydroxylation were found to be major reaction mechanisms for IBP degradation in this process.