The objective of this project is to conduct research on a process that has the potential for decontamination of water that contains organic substances in solution that make the water unfit for its intended use. This is a renewal of research that was initiated under an expedited award for novel research with reference to NSF Grant No. 8612487, results of which indicated that high-energy electron irradiation of water containing benzene, chlorobenzene, and polychlorobiphenyls resulted in their degradation producing new compounds that were in general more polar and therefore more soluble in water than the original contaminants. However, it was also found that the presence of polyethylene oxide during irradiation resulted in a substantial decrease of those fragments in solution. This suggested the possibility that contaminant free radical species formed during irradiation in the presence of a polymer are coupled to radical-sites formed on the dissolved polymer and that contaminant species could be subsequently removed by sand-filtration or some other conventional water treatment physical and/or chemical process. The presence of organic contaminants in water is a National problem of considerable significance as this presence relates to usefulness of surface and groundwaters for municipal and industrial purposes. It is possible that further research on this concept of linking a radiation process with conventional water and wastewater treatment technologies would provide a new system for decontamination of water polluted by the presence of organic substances.
