In this study, the relevance of straining of nano-sized particles of zero valent iron coated with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-NZVI) during transport in model subsurface porous media is assessed. Although deposition of polyelectrolyte stabilized-NZVI on granular subsurface media due to physicochemical attachment processes has been reported previously, there is limited knowledge on the significance of the collector (sand) diameter on the deposition and spatial distribution of the retention of such nanoparticles. Experiments were conducted to assess the transport of CMC-NZVI in columns packed with four different-sized sands of mean diameter of 775 μm, 510 μm, 250 μm and 150 μm and at three different particle concentrations of 0.085 g L(-1), 0.35 g L(-1) and 1.70 g L(-1). CMC-NZVI effluent concentrations decreased with smaller sand diameters. High CMC-NZVI particle retention near the inlet, particularly for the finer sands was observed, even with a low ionic strength of 0.1 mM for the electrolyte medium. These observations are consistent with particle retention in porous media due to straining and/or wedging. Two colloid transport models, one considering particle retention by physicochemical deposition and detachment of those deposited particles, and the other considering particle retention by straining along with particle deposition and detachment, were fitted to the experimental data. The model accounting for straining shows a better fit, especially to the CMC-NZVI retention data along the length of the column. The straining rate coefficients decreased with larger sand diameters. This study demonstrates that CMC-NZVI particles, despite of their small size (hydrodynamic diameters of 167-185 nm and transmission electron microscopy imaged diameters of approximately 85 nm), may be removed by straining during transport, especially through fine granular subsurface media. The tailing effect, observed in the particle breakthrough curves, is attributed to detachment of deposited particles.
Zerovalent iron (ZVI) has the potential to degrade different organic contaminants. Nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) can reduce the contaminants even more rapidly due to its small size and large specific surface area (SSA), compared to granular ZVI. The main objective of this paper is to assess and compare the potential of NZVI for degradation of different contaminants in water under specific environmental conditions. As a first step, the potential reactive functional groups/bonds associated with different contaminants are identified and possible reaction mechanisms are discussed. Thereafter, the reaction efficiencies of different organic contaminants with NZVI are compared. Mass of ZVI and reaction time required to transform a certain amount of contaminated water are calculated based on literature data. Sources of contaminants in the environment and their environmental occurrences are discussed to understand the potential locations where NZVI could be applied for removal of different contaminants. Overall it is observed that azo-compounds are readily transformed in the presence of NZVI particles. Reaction efficiencies of ZVI for reduction of nitro-organic compounds are also reasonably high. However, halogenated compounds with high molecular weights or complex structures (i.e., iodinated contrast media, DDT, polychlorinated biphenyls, etc.) show lower reaction rates with NZVI compared to the widely studied chlorinated hydrocarbons (i.e., trichloroethylene).
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