Study on the degradation of cyclohexanebutyric acid in aqueous solution by γ-ray irradiation

A series of experiments on degradation of cyclohexanebutyric acid were performed by ⁶⁰Co γ-ray irradiation with a dose rate of 0.65 kGy·h^-1. The effects of cyclohexanolbutyric acid concentration, H₂O₂ concentration, initial pH value, and absorbed dose on irradiation degradation efficiency were studied by analyzing the change of chemical oxygen demand (CODCr) and pH value before and after degradation. The results indicated that the higher the initial concentration of cyclohexanolbutyric acid was, the lower the CODCr removal became at the same dose. And the acidic condition was more helpful to the removal of CODCr than neutral and alkaline conditions. Moreover, H₂O₂ and γ-ray irradiation had a significant synergistic effect, and the irradiation degradation had a promoting effect when the initial concentration of H₂O₂ was 1 mmol·L^-1. The change of CODCr concentration follows the first order reaction kinetics equation. (authors)