Wheat straw biochar-supported nanoscale zerovalent iron for removal of trichloroethylene from groundwater.

This study synthesized the wheat straw biochar-supported nanoscale zerovalent iron (BC-nZVI) via in-situ reduction with NaBH4 and biochar pyrolyzed at 600°C. Wheat straw biochar, as a carrier, significantly enhanced the removal of trichloroethylene (TCE) by nZVI. The pseudo-first-order rate constant of TCE removal by BC-nZVI (1.079 h-1) within 260 min was 1.4 times higher and 539.5 times higher than that of biochar and nZVI, respectively. TCE was 79% dechlorinated by BC-nZVI within 15 h, but only 11% dechlorinated by unsupported nZVI, and no TCE dechlorination occurred with unmodified biochar. Weakly acidic solution (pH 5.7-6.8) significantly enhanced the dechlorination of TCE. Chloride enhanced the removal of TCE, while SO42-, HCO3- and NO3- all inhibited it. Humic acid (HA) inhibited BC-nZVI reactivity, but the inhibition decreased slightly as the concentration of HA increased from 40 mg∙L-1 to 80 mg∙L-1, which was due to the electron shutting by HA aggregates. Results suggest that BC-nZVI was promising for remediation of TCE contaminated groundwater.

Biochar supported Ni/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles to remove 1,1,1-trichloroethane under various reaction conditions.

In this study, Ni/Fe nanoparticles supported by biochar to stimulate the reduction of 1,1,1-trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCA) in groundwater remediation was investigated. In order to enhance the reactivity of ZVI (zero valent iron) nanoparticles, surface modification of ZVI was performed using nickel and biochar. The removal efficiency of 1,1,1-TCA increased from 42.3% to 99.3% as the biochar-to-Ni/Fe mass ratio increased from 0 to 1.0. However a higher biochar-to-Ni/Fe ratio showed little difference in the 1,1,1-TCA degradation efficiency. In the presence of Ni, atomic hydrogen generated by ZVI corrosion could be absorbed in the metal additive's lattice and then produce a hydride-like species (H) that represented the primary redox-active entity. The effects of various factors were evaluated, including pH, humic acid (HA) and inorganic matters (Cl-, CO32-, HCO3-, NO3- and SO42-). The degradation of 1,1,1-TCA was greatly affected by pH. The presence of Cl-, CO32-, HCO3- and SO42- had negligible effects, but NO3- and HA showed a significant inhibitory effects on 1,1,1-TCA degradation. In conclusion, biochar supported Ni/Fe nanoparticles could be highly effective for 1,1,1-TCA degradation.

Bio-beads with immobilized anaerobic bacteria, zero-valent iron, and active carbon for the removal of trichloroethane from groundwater.

Chlorinated hydrocarbons are the most common organic pollutants in groundwater systems worldwide. In this study, we developed bio-beads with immobilized anaerobic bacteria, zero-valent iron (ZVI), and activated carbon (AC) powder and evaluated their efficacy in removing 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA) from groundwater. Bio-beads were produced by polyvinyl alcohol, alginate, and AC powder. We found that the concentration of AC powder used significantly affected the mechanical properties of immobilized bio-beads and that 1.0 % (w/v) was the optimal concentration. The bio-beads effectively degraded TCA (160 mg L(-1)) in the anaerobic medium and could be reused up to six times. The TCA degradation rate of bio-beads was 1.5 and 2.3 times greater, respectively, than ZVI + AC treatment or microbes + AC treatment. Measuring FeS produced by microbial reactions indicated that TCA removal occurred via FeS-catalyzed dechlorination. Analysis of clonal libraries derived from bio-beads demonstrated that the dominant species in the community were Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria, which may contribute to the long-term stability of ZVI reactivity during TCA dechlorination. This study shows that the combined use of immobilized anaerobic bacteria, ZVI, and AC in bio-beads is effective and practical for TCA dechlorination and suggests they may be applicable towards developing a groundwater treatment system for the removal of TCA.