Controlled polyethylene glycol and activated carbon interaction with nanoscale zerovalent iron for trichloroethylene degradation
Journal
Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers
Journal Volume
116
Journal Volume
116
Pages
137-143
Start Page
137
End Page
143
ISSN
18761070
Date Issued
2020-11
Author(s)
Abstract
Nanoscale zerovalent iron (Fe0) on carbon materials was successfully synthesized via a simple one-step pyrolysis of coir pith with iron precursor. The Fe0 dispersion over activated carbon (AC) and stability was amended by adding polyethylene glycol (PEG)/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The transmission electron microscopy results reveal the homogeneous distribution of Fe0 (~20 nm) on the surface of AC. In addition, the crystal patterns and valence states of Fe0 nanoparticles were evaluated by X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. Trichloroethylene (TCE), one common pollutant in the groundwater, was used to understand the catalytic ability of Fe/AC. The pseudo-first-order kinetic model was applied for TCE removal rate. Fe/AC shows 80% TCE removal in 24 h reaction time, due to its porous structure and large surface area. PEG-Fe/AC composite demonstrated 90.4% TCE dechlorination efficiency in 45 min (kobs 0.29 min−1). The enhanced dechlorination was recorded due to perfect PEG and Fe0 ratio, in which PEG restricted the arial oxidation of Fe0. The as-synthesized nanocomposite was further evaluated for its high stability and efficacy by consecutive eight successive TCE removal cycles. This study demonstrates that one-pot synthesized PEG-Fe/AC composite can effectively remove chlorinated compounds in water, which can be beneficial to the future research applications.
Subjects
Activated carbon
Dechlorination
Nano zerovalent iron
Polyethylene glycol (PEG)
Trichloroethylene
SDGs
Publisher
Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers
Type
journal article