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One-step synthesis of bentonite-supported nanoscale Fe/Ni bimetals for rapid degradation of methyl orange in water

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Abstract

Although nanoscale zero-valent iron (nano-Fe0) is used to remediate pollutants, this reagent still presents stability and reactivity issues. To solve those issues, we synthesized bentonite-supported nanoscale iron bimetals B-Fe/Ni and B-Fe/Pd. We then used those reagents to degrade the methyl orange dye in water. Results of scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction showed that the presence of bentonite and bimetal decreased nanoscale iron aggregation and increased methyl orange removal efficiency. More than 90 % of methyl orange at 100 mg/L was degraded by B-Fe/Ni (0.15 g/L) in 10 min. By comparison, only 62 % of methyl orange was degraded by B-Fe, and 35 % of methyl orange was degraded by nano-Fe0. The degradation rate decreased with the increase of the initial concentration of methyl orange. Lower pH allowed fast removal of methyl orange. Overall our findings show that a nanoscale Fe/Ni on bentonite-supported material is more efficient than nano-Fe0. One-step synthesis is more convenient than current two-step-synthesized nanoscale bimetals. Bentonite-supported nanoscale bimetals could therefore be an economic competitive candidate for contaminated water remediation.

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Acknowledgments

This study was sponsored by National Natural Science Foundation of China (41272061, 41030423), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2652012128). We appreciate Dr. Prof. Gregory V. Lowry (Carnegie Mellon University) for his valuable suggestions. We also thank the editors and two anonymous reviewers for their instructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Dan Zhao, Jing Cheng & Jiawei Chen

  2. Graduate School, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Dan Zhao & Jing Cheng

Authors
  1. Dan Zhao
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  2. Jing Cheng
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  3. Jiawei Chen
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Correspondence to Jiawei Chen.

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Zhao, D., Cheng, J. & Chen, J. One-step synthesis of bentonite-supported nanoscale Fe/Ni bimetals for rapid degradation of methyl orange in water. Environ Chem Lett 12, 461–466 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-014-0473-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-014-0473-3

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