Photochemistry of insecticide imidacloprid: Direct and sensitized photolysis in aqueous medium

The direct and sensitized photodegradations of imidacloprid, 1-(6-chloro-3-pyridinylmethyl)-N-nitro-2-imidazolidinimine, were investigated in aqueous solution and with and without various photo-sensitizers. Results of the study revealed that the intensity of lamp-house and irradiation wavelength had significant effects on the photolysis of imidacloprid. Complete degradation of 20 mg/L imidacloprid in aqueous phase was observed in 40 min under ultraviolet(UV) irradiation system, suggesting the ultraviolet ray played significant role in direct photolysis of imidacloprid. The additions of various photo-sensitizers lead to improve the degradation efficiency of imidacloprid under the irradiation of black light fluorescent lamp. TiO₂, was the most efficient in the photo-catalytic degradation of imidacloprid among other photo-sensitizers in used this study. However, addition of acetone inhibited the photolysis of imidacloprid under the irradiation of UV, indicating the occurrence of competition between acetone and imidacloprid for photos. Mineralization of the imidacloprid was examined to clarify the final photochemical degradation products of the insecticide which were CO₂, Cl^- and NO^-₃. Complete photo-oxidation of nitrogen to NO^-₃ occurred very slowly via the intermediate formation of NH⁺₄ and NO^-₂.