Spectroscopic changes on fulvic acids from a kraft pulp mill effluent caused by sun irradiation

Response of fulvic acid linking to redox characteristics on methane and short-chain fatty acids in anaerobic digestion of chicken manure

Fulvic acids (FAs) is formed during the bioconversion of organic matter (OM) to biogas during anaerobic digestion (AD) and has a complex structure and redox function. However, the evolutionary mechanisms of FAs during AD and its interactions with acid and methane production have not been sufficiently investigated, especially at different stages of AD. Intermittent AD experiments by chicken manure and rice husk showed significant structural changes and reduced aromatization of FAs (e.g., O-H stretch6, 14.10-0%; SR, 0.22-0.60). The electron donating capacity (EDC) [9.76-45.39 μmole-/(g C)] and electron accepting capacity (EAC) [2.55-5.20 μmole-/(g C)] of FAs showed a tendency of decreasing and then increasing, and FAs had a stronger electron transfer capacity (ETC) in the methanogenic stage. Correlation analysis showed that the EDC of FAs was influenced by their own structure (C-O stretch2, C-H bend1, C-H bend4, and N-H bend) and also had an inhibitory effect on propionic production, which further inhibited acetic production. The EAC of FAs was affected by molecular weight and had a promoting effect on methane production. Structural equation modelling identified three possible pathways for AD. The C-O stretch2 structure of FAs alone inhibits the production of propionic. In addition, pH can directly affect the EDC of FAs. This study provides a theoretical basis for the structural and functional evolution of FAs in AD of chicken manure on the mechanism of methane production.

Coagulation and ozonation treatment of biologically treated wastewater from recycled paper pulping industry: effect on the change of organic compounds

Recycled paper pulping wastewater (RPPW) will cause serious environmental problems due to the high loads of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and toxic components. In the present work, the degradation of DOM in the biologically treated RPPWs (cardboard wastewater (CW) and corrugated container wastewater (CCW)) by a combined coagulation and ozonation process was investigated. The optimal chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of CW reached 73.64% at aluminum sulfate (Al2(SO4)3) dosage of 800 mg/l, aeration aperture of 10 μm, pH of 9, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) dosage of 100 mg/l, and reaction time of 70 min. The optimal COD removal of CCW reached 55.76% at a poly-aluminum chloride (PAC) dosage of 700 mg/l, H2O2 dosage of 140 mg/l, and reaction time of 50 min. This study provided some insights into the change of DOM during the combined treatment through the use of UV-Vis spectroscopy and excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy (EEM). PAC and Al2(SO4)3 removed high molecular weight organic such as lignin and lignin-derived compounds to improve the biodegradability of the wastewater. Ozone oxidized high molecular weight organic with complex functional groups to low molecular weight organic with simple functional groups and even mineralization, and this phenomenon resulted in the COD of ozonation effluent significantly reduced. Thus, the results presented in this study support the application of the combined coagulation and ozonation process in treating RPPW.

Complexation modelling and oxidation mechanism of organic pollutants in cotton pulp black liquor during iron salt precipitation and electrochemical treatment

Removal behavior of organic pollutants such as lignin in cotton pulp black liquor (CPBL) was investigated in precipitation followed by electrochemical oxidation (EO) using FeCl₃, Fe₂(SO₄)₃, FeCl₂ and FeSO₄ as precipitants, electrolyte and catalysts. Based on comparison of precipitation efficacy of iron salts, spectroscopic techniques, thermodynamic equilibrium calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to provide insight into the interaction between iron cations and lignin. The results showed that FeCl₃ achieved the highest removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD, 76.05%), UV₂₅₄ (69.21%) and lignin (78.28%). Iron cationic complexation with lignin was identified as the key mechanism in precipitation. Fe³⁺ was more active in binding to organic ligands mainly due to charge effect compared to Fe²⁺. The strong Fe-sulphate coordination affected the complexation with lignin. MD simulations showed the formation of inner sphere complexes of iron cations with deprotonated carboxyl and hydroxyl groups via bidentate and monodentate coordination. The removal efficiency of electrochemical oxidation (EO) as a post-treatment of the precipitation was dependent on iron salts. Removals of COD, UV₂₅₄ and color can achieve 98.88%, 98.9% and 99.97% by FeCl₃ precipitation and EO processes. The effluent reached the primary discharge standard specified in Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard of China (GB8978-1996). FeCl₃ demonstrated significant advantages in the removal of organic pollutants from cotton pulp black liquor in the combined process of precipitation and electrochemical treatment and may have practical application potential.

A review on fluorescence spectroscopic analysis of water and wastewater

In recent years, the application of fluorescence spectroscopy has been widely recognized in water environment studies. The sensitiveness, simplicity, and efficiency of fluorescence spectroscopy are proved to be a promising tool for effective monitoring of water and wastewater. The fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEMs) and synchronous fluorescence spectra have been widely used analysis techniques of fluorescence measurement. The presence of organic matter in water and wastewater defines the degree and type of pollution in water. The application of fluorescence spectroscopy to characterize dissolved organic matter (DOM) has made the water quality assessment simple and easy. With the recent advances in this technology, components of DOM are identified by employing parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), a mathematical trilinear data modeling with EEMs. The majority of wastewater studies indicated that the fluorescence peak of EX/EM at 275 nm/340 nm is referred to tryptophan region (Peak T1). However, some researchers identified another fluorescence peak in the region of EX/EM at 225-237 nm/340-381 nm, which described the tryptophan region and labeled it as Peak T2. Generally, peak T is a protein-like component in the water sample, where T1 and T2 signals were derived from the <0.20μm fraction of pollution. Therefore, a more advanced approach, such as an online fluorescence spectrofluorometer, can be used for the online monitoring of water. The results of various waters studied by fluorescence spectroscopy indicate that changes in peak T intensity could be used for real-time wastewater quality assessment and process control of wastewater treatment works. Finally, due to its effective use in water quality assessment, the fluorescence technique is proved to be a surrogate online monitoring tool and early warning equipment.

Characterization of urban and industrial wastewaters using excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence: Searching for specific fingerprints

Excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy has been applied to characterize several urban and industrial wastewaters (effluents from different types of industries: brewery, winery, dairy, biscuit, tinned fish industry, slaughterhouse, pulp mill, textile dyeing and landfill leachates), searching for specific fluorescence fingerprints. Tryptophan protein-like peaks (T₁ and T₂) are the predominant fluorescence in urban and food industry wastewaters (brewery, winery, dairy/milk, biscuit and fish farm industries) but no special fingerprint has been found to discriminate among them. Protein-like fluorescence also dominates the spectra of meat/fish industries (effluents from a tinned fish industry and a slaughterhouse), but in this case tyrosine protein-like peaks (B₁ and B2) also appear in the spectra in addition to tryptophan-like peaks. This fact might constitute a specific feature to differentiate these wastewaters from others, since the appearance of peaks B is quite uncommon in wastewaters. The textile dyeing effluent shows a characteristic triple humic-like fluorescence (peaks A, C₁ and C₂) that may represent a specific fingerprint for this kind of effluent. Leachates from medium-aged and old landfills might also show a specific fingerprint in their EEM spectra: the sole presence of the humic-like peak C with very high fluorescence intensity. This feature also allows differentiating them from young landfill leachates, which show predominance of protein-like peaks. The fluorescence index (FI) does not seem to be very appropriate to characterize wastewaters and its usefulness might be limited to the study of humic substances in natural waters, although further studies are needed on this topic. However, the humification index (HIX) and the biological index (BIX) do seem to be useful for studying wastewaters, since they have provided consistent results in the present work. This study shows the potential of EEM fluorescence to identify the origin of some industrial effluents, although more research is needed to check these preliminary results.

Preparation, characterization, and application of magnetic activated carbon for treatment of biologically treated papermaking wastewater

In view of the urgent need for tertiary treatment of papermaking wastewater and the difficulty in separating powdered activated carbon (PAC) from water, the magnetic activated carbon (33%-MPAC, 50%-MPAC and 67%-MPAC) were prepared by chemical coprecipitation method for adsorption of biologically treated papermaking wastewater (BTPW). A series of characterization of MPAC and PAC were carried out and show that the content of iron oxides is negatively related to the proportion of micropores in MPAC. The loaded iron oxides is mainly the mixture of magnetite and maghemite, and the maximum saturation magnetization of MPAC can reach 29.68 emu/g. Batch mode experiments were performed, and found that the adsorption effect of MPAC is slightly worse than that of PAC, the adsorption capacity of COD in MPAC can reach about 65 mg/g, and pH = 2 and 10 °C are more favorable for adsorption. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics were well fitted by the Freundlich model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, respectively. The selective adsorption was studied by using the excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectrum and high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). It is concluded that all adsorbents are preferred to adsorb humic acid-like substances (HA). And all adsorbents are preferred to adsorb low apparent molecular weight substances (LAMW, AMW < 1500 Da), with the increase of iron oxides content, the phenomenon of MPAC preferentially adsorbed LAMW became less obvious.

Dissolved organic matter-mediated photodegradation of anthracene and pyrene in water

Toxicity and transformation process of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is strongly depended on the interaction between PAHs and dissolved organic matters (DOM). In this study, a 125W high-pressure mercury lamp was used to simulate the sunlight experiment to explore the inhibition mechanism of four dissolved organic matters (SRFA, LHA, ESHA, UMRN) on the degradation of anthracene and pyrene in water environment. Results indicated that the photodegradation was the main degradation approach of PAHs, which accorded with the first-order reaction kinetics equation. The extent of degradation of anthracene and pyrene was 36% and 24%, respectively. DOM influence mechanism on PAHs varies depending upon its source. SRFA, LHA and ESHA inhibit the photolysis of anthracene, however, except for SRFA, the other three DOM inhibit the photolysis of pyrene. Fluorescence quenching mechanism is the main inhibiting mechanism, and the binding ability of DOM and PAHs is dominantly correlated with its inhibiting effect. FTIR spectroscopies and UV-Visible were used to analyze the main structural changes of DOM binding PAHs. Generally, the stretching vibration of N-H and C-O of polysaccharide carboxylic acid was the key to affect its binding with anthracene and C-O-C in aliphatic ring participated in the complexation of DOM and pyrene.

Molecular Composition of Size-Fractionated Fulvic Acid-Like Substances Extracted from Spent Cooking Liquor and Its Relationship with Biological Activity

The treatment of spent cooking liquor is critical for clean production of pulp and paper industry. There is a compelling need to develop a cost-effective and green technology for reuse of organic matter in spent cooking liquor to mitigate the negative impacts on the environment. The objective of this study is to examine the chemical structure of fulvic acid-like substances extracted from spent cooking liquor (PFA) and their relationship with bioactivity in plant growth. Compared with the benchmark Pahokee peat fulvic acid (PPFA), PFA has less aromatic structure, but higher content of lignin, carbohydrates, and amino acid. After fractionation, protein/amino proportion decreased with increasing molecular weight, but the aromaticity increased. Under salt stress, rice seedling growth was promoted by PFA with low molecular weight (<5 kDa), but inhibited by fraction with high molecular weight (>10 kDa). Principal component analysis suggested that promoted growth was more related with chemical structure (O- and N-alkyl moieties) than with molecular weight. This study provided the theoretical basis for development of an innovative green technology of sustainable reuse of spent cooking liquor in agriculture.

Activation of fulvic acid-like in paper mill effluents using H2O2/TiO2 catalytic oxidation: Characterization and salt stress bioassays

Increasing environmental concerns about organic waste in paper mill effluents demand alternative wastewater management technology. We reported novel activation of fulvic acid-like in paper mill effluents using hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as oxidizer and titanium oxide (TiO₂) as catalyst. Spectroscopic characteristics of fulvic acid-like in paper mill effluents before and after activation (PFA and PFA-Os, respectively) were compared with a benchmark fulvic acid extracted from leonardite (LFA). Results indicated that PFA-Os exhibited less lignin structures, more functional groups and lower molecular weight than PFA, sharing much similarity with LFA. Among PFA-Os with varying degrees of oxidation, PFA-O-3 activated with 1:2 vol ratio of paper mill effluent and 30% H₂O₂ for 20 min digestion at 90 °C stands out to be the optimal for further examination of its biological activity. Bioassays with rice seed/seedling indicated that applications of LFA at 2-5 mg-C/L and PFA-O-3 at 60-100 mg-C/L significantly increased rice seed germination rate and seedling growth under salt stress imposed with 100 mM NaCl. The mechanism was mainly through reduced oxidative damage via activation of antioxidative enzymes and lipid peroxidation. This study provides the needed technical basis of safer and cleaner technologies for innovative management of paper mill effluents.

CDOM Absorption Properties of Natural Water Bodies along Extreme Environmental Gradients

We present absorption properties of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) sampled in six different water bodies along extreme altitudinal, latitudinal, and trophic state gradients. Three sites are in Norway: the mesotrophic Lysefjord (LF), Samnangerfjord (SF), and Røst Coastal Water (RCW); two sites are in China: the oligotrophic Lake Namtso (LN) and the eutrophic Bohai Sea (BS); and one site is in Uganda: the eutrophic Lake Victoria (LV). The site locations ranged from equatorial to subarctic regions, and they included water types from oligotrophic to eutrophic and altitudes from 0 m to 4700 m. The mean CDOM absorption coefficients at 440 nm [ a CDOM ( 440 ) ] and 320 nm [ a CDOM ( 320 ) ] varied in the ranges 0.063–0.35 m − 1 and 0.34–2.28 m − 1 , respectively, with highest values in LV, Uganda and the lowest in the high-altitude LN, Tibet. The mean spectral slopes S 280 − 500 and S 350 − 500 were found to vary in the ranges of 0.017–0.032 nm − 1 and 0.013–0.015 nm − 1 , respectively. The highest mean value for S 280 − 500 as well as the lowest mean value for S 350 − 500 were found in LN. Scatter plots of S 280 − 500 versus a CDOM ( 440 ) and a CDOM ( 320 ) values ranges revealed a close connection between RCW, LF, and SF on one side, and BS and LV on the other side. CDOM seems to originate from terrestrial sources in LF, SF, BS, and LV, while RCW is characterized by autochthonous-oceanic CDOM, and LN by autochthonous CDOM. Photobleaching of CDOM is prominent in LN, demonstrated by absorption towards lower wavelengths in the UV spectrum. We conclude that high altitudes, implying high levels of UV radiation and oligotrophic water conditions are most important for making a significant change in CDOM absorption properties.

Biodegradation of kraft lignin by newly isolated Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas putida, and Ochrobactrum tritici strains

Bacterial systems have drawn an increasing amount of attention on lignin valorization due to their rapid growth and powerful environmental adaptability. In this study, Klebsiella pneumoniae NX-1, Pseudomonas putida NX-1, and Ochrobactrum tritici NX-1 with ligninolytic potential were isolated from leaf mold samples. Their ligninolytic capabilities were determined by measuring (1) the cell growth on kraft lignin as the sole carbon source, (2) the decolorization of kraft lignin and lignin-mimicking dyes, (3) the micro-morphology changes and transformations of chemical groups in kraft lignin, and (4) the ligninolytic enzyme activities of these three isolates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that Ochrobactrum tritici species can depolymerize and metabolize lignin. Moreover, laccase, lignin peroxidase, and Mn-peroxidase showed high activities in P. putida NX-1. Due to their excellent ligninolytic capabilities, these three bacteria are important supplements to ligninolytic bacteria library and could be valuable in lignin valorization.

Unsupervised component analysis: PCA, POA and ICA data exploring - connecting the dots

Under controlled conditions, each compound presents a specific spectral activity. Based on this assumption, this article discusses Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Principal Object Analysis (POA) and Independent Component Analysis (ICA) algorithms and some decision criteria in order to obtain unequivocal information on the number of active spectral components present in a certain aquatic system. The POA algorithm was shown to be a very robust unsupervised object-oriented exploratory data analysis, proven to be successful in correctly determining the number of independent components present in a given spectral dataset. In this work we found that POA combined with ICA is a robust and accurate unsupervised method to retrieve maximal spectral information (the number of components, respective signal sources and their contributions).

Application of a solar UV/chlorine advanced oxidation process to oil sands process-affected water remediation

The solar UV/chlorine process has emerged as a novel advanced oxidation process for industrial and municipal wastewaters. Currently, its practical application to oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) remediation has been studied to treat fresh OSPW retained in large tailings ponds, which can cause significant adverse environmental impacts on ground and surface waters in Northern Alberta, Canada. Degradation of naphthenic acids (NAs) and fluorophore organic compounds in OSPW was investigated. In a laboratory-scale UV/chlorine treatment, the NAs degradation was clearly structure-dependent and hydroxyl radical-based. In terms of the NAs degradation rate, the raw OSPW (pH ∼ 8.3) rates were higher than those at an alkaline condition (pH = 10). Under actual sunlight, direct solar photolysis partially degraded fluorophore organic compounds, as indicated by the qualitative synchronous fluorescence spectra (SFS) of the OSPW, but did not impact NAs degradation. The solar/chlorine process effectively removed NAs (75-84% removal) and fluorophore organic compounds in OSPW in the presence of 200 or 300 mg L(-1) OCl(-). The acute toxicity of OSPW toward Vibrio fischeri was reduced after the solar/chlorine treatment. However, the OSPW toxicity toward goldfish primary kidney macrophages after solar/chlorine treatment showed no obvious toxicity reduction versus that of untreated OSPW, which warrants further study for process optimization.

Photobleaching of lignin derived compounds from pulp mill effluents upon irradiation: the key role of receiving waters

Lignin derived macromolecular compounds are the main constituents responsible for the hazardous effects of discharged effluents from the pulp and paper industry in receiving waters. It was shown by ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) and fluorescence spectroscopies that a selective photodegradation of these structures occurred upon irradiation of fulvic acids (FA) from a kraft pulp mill effluent. Though photodegradation was not remarkably affected by the presence of the natural photosensitizer nitrate, it was inhibited under the presence of chloride. These results indicate that the fate of macromolecular organic matter from kraft pulp mill effluents may be different depending on the type of receiving waters, having a higher persistence when effluents are discharged in estuarine or marine waters than when they are discharged in fresh water.

Altering the characteristics of a leaf litter-derived humic substance by adsorptive fractionation versus simulated solar irradiation

Changes in the characteristics of a leaf litter-derived humic substance (LLHS) that resulted from its adsorption onto kaolinite or exposure to simulated solar irradiation were tracked using selected spectroscopic descriptors, apparent weight-average molecular weight (MW(w)) and pyrene binding. Heterogeneity within the original bulk LLHS was confirmed by a range of different characteristics obtained from ultrafiltration-based size fractions. In general, trends of some changing LLHS characteristics were similar for the adsorption and irradiation processes when tracked against percent carbon removal. For example, the overall values of specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA), MW(w), and humification index (HIX) all decreased with increasing irradiation time and with increasing concentration of mineral adsorbent in the respective experiments, indicating that both processes resulted in less aromatic and smaller-sized LLHS components remaining in solution. In addition, both the adsorption and irradiation experiments resulted in enrichment of the relative distribution of protein-like fluorescence (PLF), implying the PLF-related components had low affinities for phototransformation and mineral surface adsorption. Despite these apparently similar overall trends in LLHS characteristics caused by the adsorption and irradiation processes, closer examination revealed considerable differences in how the two processes altered the original material. Net production of intermediate-sized constituents was observed only with the irradiation experiments. In addition, residual LLHS resulting from the adsorptive fractionation experiments exhibited consistently higher pyrene binding versus the irradiated LLHS despite having comparable MW(w) values. Changes in LLHS characteristics due to adsorption by kaolinite were likely caused by physical mechanisms (primarily hydrophobic interactions between LLHS components and the kaolinite surface) whereas the irradiation-induced changes appear to have been governed by the combined effects of several alteration mechanisms, including the transformation of more condensed aromatic structures to less aromatic constituents, conformational changes resulting from selective photooxidation, and the photochemical disruption of intramolecular charge-transfer interactions.

Characterization of spectral responses of humic substances upon UV irradiation using two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy

The spectral responses of a leaf litter derived humic substance (LLHS) and Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA) upon ultraviolet (UV) A irradiation were characterized using two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS) based on the absorption and the synchronous fluorescence spectra at different irradiation times. A 12 day irradiation on the humic substances (HS) resulted in higher reduction of the absorbance relative to the dissolved organic carbon concentration, suggesting that aromatic chromophores were preferentially oxidized and/or non UV-absorbing compounds were generated by the photobleaching. Synchronous fluorescence spectra revealed the preferential removal of fulvic-like and humic-like fluorophores and delayed response of protein-like fluorescence upon the irradiation. The spectral features at long wavelengths (>430 nm) appear to be affected by intra-molecular interactions of the individual chromophores associated with shorter wavelengths. Absorption-based 2D-COS demonstrated that there are three types of absorption bands for the two HS, which changed sequentially in the order of 290-400 nm → 200-250 nm → 250-290 nm. In addition, two or three distinctive fluorescence bands in response to the irradiation were identified from 2D-COS. The sequential orders and the associated wavelength bands were possibly explained by the irradiation wavelengths and the differences between direct and indirect photochemical reactions. The interpretation of the 2D-COS results was very consistent with the kinetic rate constants individually calculated at several discrete wavelengths. Our study demonstrated that 2D-COS could be used as a powerful tool in identifying distinctive bands of HS that have dissimilar behavior and the associated sequential orders by visualizing the spectral changes at continuous wavelengths.

Detecting oil sands process-affected waters in the Alberta oil sands region using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy

Large volumes of oil sands process-affected waters (OSPW) are produced during the extraction of bitumen from oil sand. There are approximately 10(9) m(3) of OSPW currently being stored in settling basins on oil sands mining sites in Northern Alberta. Developers plan to create artificial lakes with OSPW and it is expected that this water may eventually enter the environment. This study was conducted in order to determine if synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) could detect OSPW contamination in water systems. Water samples collected from ponds containing OSPW and selected sites in the Alberta oil sands region were evaluated using SFS with an offset value of 18 nm. OSPW ponds consistently displayed a minor peak at 282.5 nm and a broad major peak ranging between 320 and 340 nm. Water from reference sites within the oil sands region had little fluorescence at 282.5 nm but greater fluorescence beyond 345 nm. Naphthenic acids are the major toxic component of OSPW. Both a commercial naphthenic acid and a naphthenic acid extract prepared from OSPW had similar fluorescent spectra with peaks at 280 nm and 320 nm and minor shoulders at approximately 303 and 331 nm. The presence of aromatic acids closely associated with the naphthenic acids may be responsible for unique fluorescence at 320-340 nm. SFS is proposed to be a simple and fast method to monitor the release of OSPW into ground and surface waters in the oil sands region.

DRIFTS studies on the photodegradation of tannic acid as a model for HULIS in atmospheric aerosols

Humic like substances (HULIS) are important components of atmospheric aerosols, yet little is known about their photochemical transformation and the role of adsorbed water in this photochemistry. We report herein in situ and surface-sensitive spectroscopic studies on (1) the photodegradation of solid tannic acid, (2) structure of adsorbed water before and after photodegradation, and (3) the change in the hydrophilicity of tannic acid as a result of this photochemistry. Tannic acid (TA) was chosen as a synthetic proxy for HULIS because it has a defined molecular structure. Photochemical studies were conducted using diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS) as a function of time (3 h), relative humidity (5-30%) and total irradiance (7, 20, 290 W m(-2) at 555 nm). Water adsorption isotherm measurements were recorded before and after photodegradation, which provided information on the structure of interfacial water and the thermodynamics of adsorption. The structure of water adsorbed on TA resembles that of water at the interface with polar organic solvents. Difference spectral data collected during irradiation shows loss features in the 1700-1000 cm(-1) range and growth in carbonyl features that are blue shifted relative to the starting material, suggesting oxidative photodegradation of TA and formation of aryl aldehydes. Under our experimental conditions, we observed no enhancement in water uptake after photodegradation relative to that on unirradiated samples. The implications of our results to the understanding of heterogeneous photochemistry of HULIS and the role of adsorbed water in these reactions are discussed.