Applicability of light sources and the inner filter effect in UV/acetylacetone and UV/H 2 O 2 processes.

Light source is a crucial factor in the application of a photochemical process, which determines the energy efficiency. The performances of acetylacetone (AA) in conversion of aqueous contaminants under irradiation with a low-pressure mercury lamp, a medium-pressure mercury lamp, a xenon lamp, and natural sunlight were investigated and compared with those of H2 O2 as reference. In all cases, AA was superior to H2 O2 in the degradation of Acid Orange 7. Using combinations of the different light sources with various cut-off and band-pass filters, the spectra responses of the absorbed photons in the UV/AA and UV/H2 O2 processes were determined for two colored and two colorless compounds. The photonic efficiency (φ) of the two photochemical processes was found to be target-dependent. A calculation approach for the inner filter effect was developed by taking the obtained φ into account, which provides a more accurate indication of the reaction mechanisms.