Abstract
Spherical iron-carbon nanocomposites were synthesized through a facile aerosol-based process and a subsequent carbothermal reduction. Carbothermal treatment reduces iron species to zero-valent iron rather than using expensive sodium borohydride. In addition, the high porosity of iron-carbon composites allows the entry of contaminants to reactive sites. These composites with nanoscale zero-valent iron particles incorporated in the carbon matrix exhibit synergistic adsorption and reaction for more efficient removal of Cr(VI) in water. Under identical experimental conditions, aerosol-assisted iron-carbon composites showed the highest removal efficiency compared to other materials including nanoscale zero-valent iron particles, aerosol-assisted carbon, and their physical mixture. Meanwhile, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis proved as-prepared iron-carbon composites could effectively transform Cr(VI) to much less toxic Cr(III). These iron-carbon composites can be designed at low cost, the process is amenable to scale-up for in situ application, and the materials are intrinsically benign to the environment.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Al-abed, S. R., & Chen, J. (2001). Transport of trichloroethylene (TCE) in natural soil by electroosmosis. In: Smith, J. A. & Burns, S. E. (eds.), Physicochemical groundwater remediation (pp. 91–114). New York: Springer.
Cao, J., & Zhang, W. (2006). Stabilization of chromium ore processing residue (COPR) with nanoscale iron particles. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 132(2–3), 213–219.
Choi, H., Al-Abed, S. R., Agarwal, S., & Dionysiou, D. D. (2008). Synthesis of reactive Nano-Fe/Pd bimetallic system-impregnated activated carbon for the simultaneous adsorption and dechlorination of PCBs. Chemistry of Materials, 20, 3649–3655.
Choi, H., Agarwal, S., & Al-Abed, S. R. (2009). Adsorption and simultaneous dechlorination of PCBs on GAC/Fe/Pd: mechanistic aspects and reactive capping barrier concept. Environmental Science & Technology, 43, 488–493.
Gatmiri, B., & Hosseini, A. H. (2004). Conceptual model and mathematical formulation of NAPL transport in unsaturated porous media. In: Thomas, H. R. & Young, R. N. (eds.), Geoenvironmental engineering: Integrated management of groundwater and contaminated land (pp. 67–75). London, UK: Thomas Telford Publishing.
He, F., & Zhao, D. (2005). Preparation and characterization of a new class of starch-stabilized bimetallic nanoparticles for degradation of chlorinated hydrocarbons in water. Environmental Science & Technology, 39, 3314–3320.
He, F., & Zhao, D. (2007). Manipulating the size and dispersibility of zerovalent iron nanoparticles by use of carboxymethyl cellulose stabilizers. Environmental Science & Technology, 41, 6216–6221.
He, F., Zhao, D., Liu, J., & Roberts, C. B. (2007). Stabilization of Fe−Pd nanoparticles with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose for enhanced transport and dechlorination of trichloroethylene in soil and groundwater. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 46, 29–34.
Hoch, L. B., Mack, E. J., Hydutsky, B. W., Hershman, J. M., Skluzacek, J. M., & Mallouk, T. E. (2008). Carbothermal synthesis of carbon-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron particles for the remediation of hexavalent chromium. Environmental Science & Technology, 47, 2600–2605.
Huang, P., Ye, Z., Xie, W., Chen, Q., Li, J., Xu, Z., & Yao, M. (2013). Rapid magnetic removal of aqueous heavy metals and their relevant mechanisms using nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI). Water Research, 47, 4050–4058.
Krishnani, K., & Ayyappan, S. (2006). Heavy metals remediation of water using plants and lignocellulosic agrowastes. In: Ware, G. W., Whitacre, D. M., Albert, L. A., de Voogt, P., Gerba, C. P., Hutzinger, O., Knaak, J. B., Mayer, F. L., Morgan, D. P., Park, D. L., Tjeerdema, R. S., Yang, R. S. H., Gunther, F. A. (eds.), Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology (Vol. 188, pp. 59–84).
Li, X., Cao, J., & Zhang, W. (2008). Stoichiometry of Cr(VI) immobilization using nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI): A study with high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HR-XPS). Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 47, 2131–2139.
Liu, Y., Choi, H., Dionysiou, D., & Lowry, G. V. (2005a). Trichloroethene hydrodechlorination in water by highly disordered monometallic nanoiron. Chemistry of Materials, 17, 5315–5322.
Liu, Y., Majetich, S. A., Tilton, R. D., Sholl, D. S., & Lowry, G. V. (2005b). TCE dechlorination rates, pathways, and efficiency of nanoscale iron particles with different properties. Environmental Science & Technology, 39, 1338–1345.
Liu, Z., Fan, T., Zhang, W., & Zhang, D. (2005c). The synthesis of hierarchical porous iron oxide with wood templates. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 85, 82–88.
Lv, X., Xu, J., Jiang, G., & Xu, X. (2011). Removal of chromium(VI) from wastewater by nanoscale zero-valent iron particles supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Chemosphere, 85, 1204–1209.
Miretzky, P., & Cirelli, A. F. (2010). Cr(VI) and Cr(III) removal from aqueous solution by raw and modified lignocellulosic materials: A review. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 180, 1–19.
Nyer, E. K., & Vance, D. B. (2001). Nano-scale iron for dehalogenation. Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation, 21, 41–46.
Owlad, M., Aroua, M. K., Daud, W. A. W., & Baroutian, S. (2009). Removal of hexavalent chromium-contaminated water and wastewater: A review. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 200, 59–77.
Phenrat, T., Saleh, N., Sirk, K., Tilton, R. D., & Lowry, G. V. (2007). Aggregation and sedimentation of aqueous nanoscale zerovalent iron dispersions. Environmental Science & Technology, 41, 284–290.
Phenrat, T., Liu, Y., Tilton, R. D., & Lowry, G. V. (2009). Adsorbed polyelectrolyte coatings decrease Fe0 nanoparticle reactivity with TCE in water: Conceptual model and mechanisms. Environmental Science & Technology, 43, 1507–1514.
Saleh, N., Phenrat, T., Sirk, K., Dufour, B., Ok, J., Sarbu, T., Matyjaszewski, K., Tilton, R. D., & Lowry, G. V. (2005). Adsorbed triblock copolymers deliver reactive iron nanoparticles to the oil/water interface. Nano Letters, 5, 2489–2494.
Schrick, B., Hydutsky, B. W., Blough, J. L., & Mallouk, T. E. (2004). Delivery vehicles for zerovalent metal nanoparticles in soil and groundwater. Chemistry of Materials, 16, 2187–2193.
Seaton, N. A. (1991). Determination of the connectivity of porous solids from nitrogen sorption measurements. Chemical Engineering Science, 46, 1895–1909.
Sing, K. S. W. (1985). Reporting physisorption data for gas/solid systems with special reference to the determination of surface area and porosity (recommendations 1984). Pure and Applied Chemistry, 57, 603–619.
Sunkara, B., Zhan, J., He, J., McPherson, G. L., Piringer, G., & John, V. T. (2010). Nanoscale zerovalent iron supported on uniform carbon microspheres for the in situ remediation of chlorinated hydrocarbons. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2, 2854–2862.
Tang, L., Yang, G., Zeng, G., Cai, Y., Li, S., Zhou, Y., Pang, Y., Liu, Y., Zhang, Y., & Luna, B. (2014). Synergistic effect of iron doped ordered mesoporous carbon on adsorption-coupled reduction of hexavalent chromium and the relative mechanism study. Chemical Engineering Journal, 239, 114–122.
Tiraferri, A., Chen, K., Sethi, R., & Elimelech, M. (2008). Reduced aggregation and sedimentation of zero-valent iron nanoparticles in the presence of guar gum. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 324, 71–79.
Uegami M., Kawano J., Okita T., Fujii Y., Okinaka K., Kayuka K., & Yatagi S. (2006). Iron particles for purifying contaminated soil or groundwater. US Patent 7,022,256, Apr. 4, 2006.
Wang, C., & Zhang, W. (1997). Synthesizing nanoscale iron particles for rapid and complete dechlorination of TCE and PCBs. Environmental Science & Technology, 31, 2154–2156.
Xie, Y., & Cwiertny, D. M. (2012). Influence of anionic cosolutes and pH on nanoscale zerovalent iron longevity: Time scales and mechanisms of reactivity loss toward 1,1,1,2-tetrachloroethane and Cr(VI). Environmental Science & Technology, 46, 8365–8373.
Zhan, J., Zheng, T., Piringer, G., Day, C., McPherson, G. L., Lu, Y., Papadopoulos, K., & John, V. T. (2008). Transport characteristics of nanoscale functional zerovalent iron/silica composites for in situ remediation of trichloroethylene. Environmental Science & Technology, 42, 8871–8876.
Zhan, J., Sunkara, B., Le, L., John, V. T., He, J., McPherson, G. L., Piringer, G., & Lu, Y. (2009). Multifunctional colloidal particles for in situ remediation of chlorinated hydrocarbons. Environmental Science & Technology, 43, 8616–8621.
Zhan, J., Kolesnichenko, I., Sunkara, B., He, J., McPherson, G. L., Piringer, G., & John, V. T. (2011). Multifunctional iron−carbon nanocomposites through an aerosol-based process for the in situ remediation of chlorinated hydrocarbons. Environmental Science & Technology, 45(5), 1949–1954.
Zhang, W. (2003). Nanoscale iron particles for environmental remediation: An overview. Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 5, 323–332.
Zheng, T., Zhan, J., He, J., Day, C., Lu, Y., McPherson, G. L., Piringer, G., & John, V. T. (2008). Reactivity characteristics of nanoscale zerovalent iron−silica composites for trichloroethylene remediation. Environmental Science & Technology, 42, 4494–4499.
Zhou, X,. Lv, B., Zhou, Z., Li, W., & Jing, G. (2015). Evaluation of highly active nanoscale zero-valent iron coupled with ultrasound for chromium(VI) removal. Chemical Engineering Journal, 281, 155–163.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Dr. Yanqiang Huang at Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics for his assistance with the XPS analysis. Funding from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities is gratefully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
He, J., Ai, L., Wang, Y., Long, Y., Wei, C., Zhan, J. (2019). Carbothermal Synthesis of Aerosol-Based Iron-Carbon Nanocomposites for Adsorption and Reduction of Cr(VI). In: Phenrat, T., Lowry, G. (eds) Nanoscale Zerovalent Iron Particles for Environmental Restoration. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95340-3_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95340-3_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-95338-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-95340-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)