Development and validation of a simple thin-layer chromatographic method for the analysis of p-chlorophenol in treated wastewater

Abstract

A thin-layer chromatographic method with densitometric detection was established for quantification of p-chlorophenol in waste water. Degradation efficiency of p-chlorophenol was monitored after each treatment of the wastewater samples. Degradation of p-chlorophenol was performed with advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), using UV, H2O2/UV, O3/H2O2/UV, O3 and O3/UV. Developed TLC procedure has been found to be simple, rapid and precise. The method was characterized by high sensitivity (limit of detection was 11 ng per band and limit of quantification 35 ng per band), linear range (from 75 to 500 ng per band, r = 0.9965), and high precision, accuracy (mean percentage recovery 98.6%), and specificity. Additionally, the efficiency of degradation was monitored using HPLC giving comparable results with RP TLC measurements. [Acknowledgement. This work was performed within the framework of the research project No. 172017 supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Serbia.]

Keywords

• p-chlorophenol
• TLC-scanner
• HPLC
• AOPs
• wastewater treatment