Experimental and theoretical insights into the photochemical decomposition of environmentally persistent perfluorocarboxylic acids.

Decomposition of perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) is of great significance due to their global distribution, persistence and toxicity to organisms. In this study, the photodegradation of a series of PFCAs (∼C2C12) in water by a medium-pressure mercury lamp was experimentally and theoretically examined. We found that photolysis of PFCAs all follow pseudo-first-order kinetics with the rate constant (k