HIGH-TEMPERATURE UV ABSORPTION CHARACTERISTICS OF 3 ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE COMPOUNDS

High temperature spectral red shifts and increases in UV absorption significantly enhance the extent of concentrated solar radiation absorption by three environmentally sensitive compounds-benzene, chlorobenzene and 3,3', 4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl. This has favorable implications for the use of concentrated solar radiation to destroy hazardous organic wastes. We report integrated absorption intensity increases and red shifts respectively of 2.2 and 20 nm for the S1 <-- S0 benzene transition over the temperature range 22-600-degrees-C, 3.2 and 24 nm for the S1 <-- S0 chlorobenzene transition (150-700-degrees-C) and 1.3 and 5 nm for the S2/S1 <-- S0 transitions in 3,3', 4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (250-350-degrees-C).