Abstract
The degradation rate of water-soluble poly(oxyethylene) (PEG) was studied under the condition of chemical reaction rate controlling, using a bubble column of 0.05 m I.D. and 0.6 m high. The degradation rate of PEG, of which initial viscosity-average molecular weight is 32, 000, is a function of viscosity-average molecular weight, dissolved ozone concentration and OH- concentration. The activation energy of the reaction is found to be 6.2 × 104 J ⋅ mol-1. An empirical equation of the degradation rate of PEG is obtained in the range of pH=5.5-8.1.
The mechanism of the ozonation was studied on the basis of IR and NMR spectrochemical analysis, and a degradation scheme of PEG is proposed.
