Study on the degradation of acesulfame potassium by UV-LED/catalyst

Abstract

This master’s thesis mainly focuses on the experiments of the degradation of acesulfame potassium under UV-LED and catalysts/oxidizing agents. Acesulfame potassium is defined as an artificial sweetener which can be found in diet foods, beverages and some drugs. The most important benefit of acesulfame potassium is the sweetness which can sweeten than normal sugar 200 times. Although having a very high benefit, the persistence after discharged to environment of artificial sweeteners in general and acesulfame potassium in particular is very long. Acesulfame potassium can be considered as contaminants of emerging concern which substance hardly recognize in environment. Due to the development of technology, there are some method which can recognize the presence of it in environment with a very small concentration (from ngr/l to mgr/l). The most concern about subtances is the unknown long-term effect. In this thesis, acesulfame potassium is prepared at concentration from 1 ppm to 6 ppm with pH from 2 to 6. The treatment time from 5 minutes to 120 minutes represents the degradation rate of acesulfame concentration. HPLC method is used to check the concentration before and after treatment. Also catalysts and oxidants (0.5 mg, 1 mg, 1.5 mg) are added for treatment optimization. Finally, the TOC and GC-MS are tested at optimal conditions. The conclusions and suggestions are presented.