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Enhanced transportability of zero valent iron nanoparticles in aquifer sediments: surface modifications, reactivity, and particle traveling distances

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Abstract

In this study, we assessed the transportability of zero valent iron nanoparticles (nano-Fe0) coated with different organics (carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC), poly acrylic acid (PAA), and xanthan gum) in standard porous sand and in real aquifer sediments. Our results suggest that the organic surface coatings optimized for nano-Fe0 in porous sand media do not necessarily reflect the same transportability in real field aquifer sediment. Xanthan gum-coated nano-Fe0 showed highest transportability in standard porous sand, but the performance was much lower in real aquifer sediment, whereas the PAA-coated nano-Fe0 particle showed better transportability both in aquifer sediment and in porous sand media. Nano-Fe0 without organic surface coating exhibited very low transportability and was largely retained by the porous medium. Our results suggest that the molecular weight and surface charge density of the organic may play a role in transportability of these nanoparticles. To assess the impact of organic coating on the nanoparticle reactivity with contaminants, we also conducted batch tests to follow TCE degradation using different surface coatings and found no significant difference albeit a minor delay in kinetics. Using theoretical calculations, we also estimated the potential distance traveled by nanoparticles in porous sand as well as in aquifer sediment. Our results suggest that using xanthan gum and PAA as surface coating, nano-Fe0 could travel up to 9.8 and 4.1 m, respectively, in the porous sand media as compared to 0.2 and 0.9 m in real aquifer sediment, respectively.

Nanoparticle mobility in porous sand vs and aquifer sediment.

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Acknowledgments

Authors are thankful to SERPOL for providing us the aquifer sediment from the site. This research received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 NanoRem under grant agreement number 309517 (Article II.30 GA) and the French national research agency ANR via the NANOFREZES project. The authors thank the CNRS for funding the GDRi-iCEINT. This work is also a contribution to the Labex Serenade (ANR-11-LABX-0064) funded by the «Investissements d’Avenir» French Government program of the French National Research Agency (ANR) through the A*MIDEX project (ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02).

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  1. Naresh Kumar

    Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEREGE, CNRS Aix Marseille Université—IRD—Collège de France, UM 7330, 13545, Aix-en-Provence, France

    Naresh Kumar, Jérôme Labille, Nathan Bossa, Mélanie Auffan, Jérôme Rose & Jean-Yves Bottero

  2. International Consortium for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology iCEINT, Aix-en-Provence, France

    Naresh Kumar, Jérôme Labille, Nathan Bossa, Mélanie Auffan, Jérôme Rose & Jean-Yves Bottero

  3. Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LCE, FRE 3416, Bâtiment Villemin, Europôle de l’Arbois, Avenue Louis Philibert, BP 80, 13545, Aix en Provence, France

    Pierre Doumenq

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Correspondence to Naresh Kumar.

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Kumar, N., Labille, J., Bossa, N. et al. Enhanced transportability of zero valent iron nanoparticles in aquifer sediments: surface modifications, reactivity, and particle traveling distances. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 9269–9277 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-8597-1

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