Studies on direct and indirect photodegradation of 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole

Environmental pollution is a global concern, and while many studies focus on the sources of pollutants, fewer investigate what happens to compounds once they enter the environment. This thesis wants to contribute filling the knowledge gap on contaminants’ degradation by studying the aqueous photodegradation kinetics and by-products formation of 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole (2-SH-BTH), a poorly studied Contaminant of Emerging Concern. Used as vulcanizer accelerator in tires production, 2-BTH-SH enters the environmental through Tire-Wear Particles, which derive from the friction between tire and road pavement, making it widespread in water, soil, and air. Previous evidence showed low concentration of 2-SH-BTH in environmental matrices, suggesting that it may undergo degradation and originate by-products. With the aim of understanding its behavior in the environment, direct (only UV light) and indirect photolysis (UV light with photosensitizers) of 2-BTH-SH were investigated in different conditions of concentrations using a brand-new liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with a diode array detector (DAD) quantitative analytical method. In addition, qualitative analysis with a HPLC- High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (Orbitrap Exploris 120) allowed to identify the by-products and possible degradation routes.