Degradation of the antimicrobial triclocarban (TCC) with ozone

Triclocarban (TCC) has been used as an antimicrobial compound for many decades due to its sanitising properties. Recent studies showed that TCC is toxic and causes disruption to the endocrine system. In this work, ozone oxidation of TCC was studied in 70% acetonitrile:30% water solutions. Ozone degraded TCC effectively and the reaction rates increased substantially with ozone gas concentration, pH and temperature. Second-order-reaction kinetics was suitable to describe the chemical reaction. The effect of temperature was described by the Arrhenius equation and the activation energy was found equal to 31.0 kJ/mol. The stoichiometry of the reaction was one and the value of the rate constant at pH 7 was 5 × 103 M−1 s−1.

► Triclocarban (TCC) is an antimicrobial compound used in many household products.
► Recent studies have found that TCC is toxic.
► The degradation of TCC with ozone was studied in this project.
► Ozone degraded effectively TCC.
► Ozone concentration, pH, and temperature increased the reaction rates.