A Study on Oxidation of Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide (TMAH) using UV/Persulfate

Objective : In order to efficiently remove TMAH from the wastewater generated by the TFT-LCD manufacturing process, the oxidation of TMAH was tested by applying an UV/persulfate. The optimum reaction conditions for high concentration TMAH oxidation were investigated by evaluating and comparing the removal efficiency according to the factors affecting TMAH oxidative degradation.Methods : In this study, TMAH was decomposed by sulfate radical (SO4-∙) and hydroxyl radical (OH∙) generated from persulfate activated by UV. Factors affecting on the treatment efficiency were try to be optimized by comparing and evaluating the removal efficiency depending on the initial pH, oxidant concentration, and initial TMAH concentration.Results and Discussion : Depending on initial pH (2, 7, 12), persulfate addition (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 mM), initial TMAH concentration (100, 300, 500, 700 mg/L) degradation rates of TMAH were compared. When UV/persulfate was applied, the removal efficiency of TMAH was close to 90% regardless of the initial pH and, at initial pH 12, was the highest with 89%. It was confirmed that the generation pattern of intermediate formed were different depending on the initial pH. When the oxidizing agent was not added, there was little change in TMAH concentration. The removal efficiency was highest when 100 mM persulfate was added. However the efficiency was rather low when 150 mM persulfate was added. When the initial TMAH concentration was 100 mg/L, it was decreased within 150 minutes. As the initial concentration increased, the removal efficiency and reaction rate constant decreased.Conclusions : As a results, during the oxidation of 750 mg/L TMAH by using UV/persulfate, the removal efficiency was highest with initial pH 12 and 100 mM of persulfate addition.