Temperature effect on the kinetics of persulfate oxidation of p-chloroaniline

The kinetics of heat-facilitated persulfate oxidation of p-chloroaniline (PCA) in aqueous solutions was measured at five different temperature conditions and at four different oxidant concentrations. The PCA degradation was found to follow a pseudo-first-order decay model when the persulfate was excessive. The pseudo-first-order rate constants of PCA degradation by persulfate (50 mmol/L) at pH 7.0 are 0.12 × 10^-4, 0.28 × 10^-4, 0.43 × 10^-4, 0.83 × 10^-4, 1.32 × 10 ^-4 s^-1 at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 °C, respectively. Under the above reaction conditions, the reaction has activation energy of 49.97 kJ/mol. The observed rate was found to be function of temperature and oxidant concentration. Raising temperature and increasing persulfate concentration can significantly accelerate the PCA degradation.