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Assessment of Polyphenol Coated Nano Zero Valent Iron for Hexavalent Chromium Removal from Contaminated Waters

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Abstract

Alternative plant extracts were examined as raw materials for the synthesis of nZVI from ferric solutions. Four plants were selected for evaluation, i.e. Camellia sinensis (green tea, GT), Syzygium aromaticum (clove, CL), Mentha spicata (spearmint, SM) and Punica granatum (pomegranate, PG). Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that the reduction of Fe(III) with the herb extracts is not complete. Using the GT extract, approximately 28 mM of the initial 66 mM of Fe (42.4 %) are reduced to the elemental state Fe(0). The highest reduction of Fe(III), about 53 %, was achieved with PG and the lowest, only 15.6 %, with the SM extract. Additional batch experiments have been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of nZVI, synthesized with GT, CL, SM and PG, for the removal of hexavalent chromium from a 0.96 mM solution. The highest reduction of Cr(VI) (96 %) was obtained using the nZVI suspension produced with PG juice. The other three nZVI suspensions, i.e. CL-nZVI, GT-nZVI, and SM-nZVI, had a comparable effectiveness corresponding to 70 % reduction of chromate.

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Acknowledgments

The research of Mystrioti Christiana has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund—ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)—Research Funding Program: Heracleitus II. Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund. The rest authors would like to thank the LIFE+ CHARM project (LIFE10 ENV/GR/000601). The authors thank Prof. G. Demopoulos, McGill University, for his contribution to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780, Athens, Greece

    C. Mystrioti, D. Sparis, N. Papasiopi & A. Xenidis

  2. School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    D. Dermatas

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, Mansfield, CT, USA

    M. Chrysochoou

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  1. C. Mystrioti
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  2. D. Sparis
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  3. N. Papasiopi
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  4. A. Xenidis
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  5. D. Dermatas
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  6. M. Chrysochoou
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Correspondence to C. Mystrioti.

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Mystrioti, C., Sparis, D., Papasiopi, N. et al. Assessment of Polyphenol Coated Nano Zero Valent Iron for Hexavalent Chromium Removal from Contaminated Waters. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 94, 302–307 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-014-1442-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-014-1442-z

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