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Effects of pH and Anions on the Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in nZVI-rGo-Activated Persulfate System

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Abstract

In this study, nanosized zero-valent iron-reduced graphene oxide (nZVI-rGO)-activated persulfate (PS) was used to investigate the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) for the degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) in the aqueous solution. More than 98 % of TCE was degraded within 2 min under experimental conditions. The generation of ·OH increased when the pH was shifted toward the basic region while ·SO4 − radicals’ intensity increased in the acidic pH. Different scenarios have been observed in ·O2 − generation in the neutral and strong basic pH and decreased in acidic or slightly basic pH. In addition, the intensity of ·OH was increased with the addition of HCO3 − (10 mM) and NO3 − (100 mM) but decreased in the presence of Cl− (10 and 100 mM), HCO3 − (100 mM), and NO3 − (10 mM). The degradation of anisole, probe for both ·OH and ·SO4 −, was slightly enhanced by 10 mM NO3 − anions but decreased in 100 mM salt solution. ·O2 − intensity was increased while HCO3 − (10 and 100 mM) and NO3 − (100 mM) anions were used. nZVI-rGO-activated PS process could remove TCE in aqueous effectively, and the ROS generation and intensity were influenced by solution pH values and anions.

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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), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015 M570341), 111 Project Grant (B08021), and the Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering (SKL-ChE-14C01). Author (Ayyaz Ahmad) thanks the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, People’s Republic of China

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

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan

    Ayyaz Ahmad

  3. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaogang Gu & Shuguang Lu

  4. Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Engineering Research Center of Xinjiang Bingtuan of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University, Xinjiang, 832000, People’s Republic of 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 Lu
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  5. Yisheng Xu
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Correspondence to Xiaogang Gu or Xuhong Guo.

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Ahmad, A., Gu, X., Li, L. et al. Effects of pH and Anions on the Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in nZVI-rGo-Activated Persulfate System. Water Air Soil Pollut 226, 369 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2635-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2635-8

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