Oxidation of nitrogen-containing pollutants by novel ferrate(VI) technology: A review

Abstract

Nitrogen-containing pollutants have been found in surface waters and industrial wastewaters due to their presence in pesticides, dyes, proteins, and humic substances. Treatment of these compounds by conventional oxidants produces disinfection by-products (DBP). Ferrate(VI) (Fe(VI)O(4)(2-), Fe(VI)) is a strong oxidizing agent and produces a non-toxic by-product Fe(III), which acts as a coagulant. Ferrate(VI) is also an efficient disinfectant and can inactivate chlorine resistant microorganisms. A novel ferrate(VI) technology can thus treat a wide range of pollutants and microorganisms in water and wastewater. The aim of this paper is to review the kinetics and products of the oxidation of nitrogen-containing inorganic (ammonia, hydroxylamine, hydrazine, and azide) and organic (amines, amino acids, anilines, sulfonamides, macrolides, and dyes) compounds by ferrate(VI) in order to demonstrate the feasibility of ferrate(VI) treatment of polluted waters of various origins. Several of the compounds can degraded in seconds to minutes by ferrate(VI) with the formation of non-hazardous products. The mechanism of oxidation involves either one-electron or two-electrons processes to yield oxidation products. Future research directions critical for the implementation of the ferrate(VI)-based technology for wastewater and industrial effluents treatment are recommended.

Kinetics modeling and reaction mechanism of ferrate(VI) oxidation of benzotriazoles

“…But no obvious intermediates were found in the present study. The present study and previous studies (Lee and von Gunten, 2010;Noorhasan et al, 2010;Sharma, 2010) showed that Fe(VI) can react with dissolved organic nitrogen compounds. Oxidation of nitrogen-containing compounds by Fe(VI) can proceed through either one-electron or two-electrons processes to yield non-hazardous oxidation products (Sharma, 2010).…”

“…The present study and previous studies (Lee and von Gunten, 2010;Noorhasan et al, 2010;Sharma, 2010) showed that Fe(VI) can react with dissolved organic nitrogen compounds. Oxidation of nitrogen-containing compounds by Fe(VI) can proceed through either one-electron or two-electrons processes to yield non-hazardous oxidation products (Sharma, 2010). The k values decrease in the order of aniline > glycine (primary amine) > dimethylamine (secondary amine) > trimethylamine (tertiary amine) in the pH range 6e8 (Lee and von Gunten, 2010;Noorhasan et al, 2010).…”

“…Ferrate (Fe(VI)) is another powerful oxidizing agent in water treatment, which has the oxidation-reduction potential of 2.20 V at acidic pH condition and 0.57 V at basic pH condition (Lee et al, 2004). Due to its dual functions of an oxidant and a subsequent coagulant/precipitant as ferric hydroxide (Fe(III)) (Jun and Wei, 2002), Fe(VI) is regarded as an environmentally friendly oxidant in water and wastewater treatment process (Jiang and Lloyd, 2002;Sharma, 2002Sharma, , 2010Jiang, 2007). However the instability of Fe(VI) has limited its use in water treatment applications, but recent development in the production of Fe(VI) in situ using the electrochemical method makes it a promising oxidant for the real application of Fe(VI) in water and wastewater treatment plants (Yu and Licht, 2008;Alsheyab et al, 2009;Macova et al, 2009).…”

Ferrate(VI) oxidation of tetrabromobisphenol A in comparison with bisphenol A

“…The removal efficiency mainly depends on the reactivity of Fe(VI) to target micropollutants and coexisting constituents present in source water (Lee and von Gunten, 2010). Fe(VI) has been known to react with electron-rich organic moieties, such as phenols, anilines, amines, and olefins through electrophilic oxidation mechanism (Hu et al, 2009;Lee et al, 2009;Yang et al, 2012;Sharma, 2010Sharma, , 2013. The corresponding second-order reaction rate constants range from >1 to 10 5 M À1 s À1 in aqueous solution (Lee et al, 2009;Sharma, 2013).…”

Sulfonamides in the environment: a review and a case report

“…All important topics are covered, e.g., general information on common types of sulfonamides polluting the environment (Baran et al 2011;Zhang and Li 2011), sample preparation (Namera et al 2011;Samanidou and Karageorgou 2011), and analytical methods used for sulfonamide detection, namely HPLC (Seifrtova et al 2009;Tolika et al 2010), capillary electrophoresis (Garcia-Campana et al 2009;Pinero et al 2011), and immunoassays (Nesterenko et al 2009). Some reviews deal with resistance (Le-Minh et al 2010;Jury et al 2011), or the degradation of different pollutants, sulfonamides included (Sharma 2010). The same topics Contamination of the environment, mainly soil and surface water, is a worldwide problem.…”