Increasing the radical yield and reducing energy consumption
would
enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of advanced oxidation
processes (AOPs) for micropollutant degradation in water. We herein
report a novel AOP coupling far-UVC radiation at 222 nm with chlorinated
cyanurates (termed the UV222/Cl-cyanurates AOP) for radical
generation and micropollutant abatement in water. We experimentally
determined the concentrations of HO•, Cl•, and ClO• in the UV222/Cl-cyanurates
AOP in deionized water and swimming pool water. The radical concentrations
are 10–27 times and 4–13 times, respectively, higher
than those in the UV254/Cl-cyanurates AOP and the well-documented
UV254/chlorine AOP under comparable conditions (e.g., same
UV fluence and oxidant dosing). We determined the molar absorption
coefficients and innate quantum yields of two chlorine species and
two Cl-cyanurates at 222 nm and incorporated these parameters into
a kinetic model. The model enables accurate prediction of oxidant
photodecay rates as well as the pH impact on radical generation in
the UV222/Cl-cyanurates AOP. We predicted the pseudo-first-order
degradation rate constants of 25 micropollutants in the UV222/Cl-cyanurates AOP and demonstrated that many micropollutants can
be degraded by >80% with a low UV fluence of 25 mJ cm–2. This work advances the fundamental photochemistry of chlorine and
Cl-cyanurates at 222 nm and offers a highly effective engineering
tool in combating micropollutants in water where Cl-cyanurates are
suitable to use.