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Efficient degradation of trichloroethylene in water using persulfate activated by reduced graphene oxide-iron nanocomposite

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Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) and nano-sized zero-valent iron-reduced graphene oxide (nZVI-rGO) composite were prepared. The GO and nZVI-rGO composite were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and Raman spectroscopy. The size of nZVI was about 6 nm as observed by TEM. The system of nZVI-rGO and persulfate (PS) was used for the degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) in water, and showed 26.5 % more efficiency as compared to nZVI/PS system. The different parameters were studied to determine the efficiency of nZVI-rGO to activate the PS system for the TCE degradation. By increasing the PS amount, TCE removal was also improved while no obvious effect was observed by varying the catalyst loading. Degradation was decreased as the TCE initial concentration was increased from 20 to 100 mg/L. Moreover, when initial solution pH was increased, efficiency deteriorated to 80 %. Bicarbonate showed more negative effect on TCE removal among the solution matrix. To better understand the effects of radical species in the system, the scavenger tests were performed. The •SO4 − and •O2 − were predominant species responsible for TCE removal. The nZVI-rGO-activated PS process shows potential applications in remediation of highly toxic organic contaminants such as TCE present in the groundwater.

Persulfate activated by reduced graphene oxide and nano-sized zero-valent iron composite can be used for efficient degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) in water.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 51273063, 21476143, and 21306049), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the higher school specialized research fund for the doctoral program (222201313005 and 222201314029), 111 Project Grant (B08021), the Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering (SKL-ChE-14C01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State-Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Ayyaz Ahmad, Xiaogang Gu, Li Li, Yisheng Xu & Xuhong Guo

  2. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Xiaogang Gu & Shuguang Lv

  3. Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Engineering Research Center of Xinjiang Bingtuan of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University, Xinjiang, 832000, China

    Xuhong Guo

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  1. Ayyaz Ahmad
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  2. Xiaogang Gu
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  3. Li Li
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  4. Shuguang Lv
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  5. Yisheng Xu
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  6. Xuhong Guo
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Correspondence to Yisheng Xu or Xuhong Guo.

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Responsible editor: Santiago V. Luis

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Ahmad, A., Gu, X., Li, L. et al. Efficient degradation of trichloroethylene in water using persulfate activated by reduced graphene oxide-iron nanocomposite. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 17876–17885 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5034-1

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