Surfactant-Enhanced Solubilization and Simultaneous Degradation of Phenanthrene in Marine Sediment by Electro-Fenton Treatment

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the main types of contaminants entering the coastal marine environment. Therefore, when polluted sediments are dredged, they should be remediated for beneficial use. Numerous methodologies can be applied to remove these hydrophobic substances from solid matrixes. Among them, the use of surfactants shows a potential application on solubilizing organic pollutants. In this work, critical micelle concentration (cmc) studies of synthetic nonionic surfactants such as Brij 35, Tween 80, Triton X-100, and the biosurfactant Saponin were realized. Furthermore, the impact of several parameters such as pH and ionic strength was assayed. Mixed surfactant systems, synthetic and Saponin, were evaluated, obtaining that, for phenanthrene solubilization, the best results were reached with the mixture Saponin:Tween 80 (1:1.2 mmol L–1). Finally, the electro-Fenton treatment of sediment polluted with phenanthrene was carried out, attaining near complete phenanthrene removal after 1 day when the optimized surfactant mixture was used.

The performance of nCaO2 for BTEX removal: Hydroxyl radical generation pattern and the influences of co‐existing environmental pollutants

“…Various surfactants are now frequently applied in contaminated sites remediation for desorption and transferring pollutants from soil phase into the water phase, which definitely influenced the following remediation step for target pollutants removal (Besha, Bekele, Naidu, & Chadalavada, 2018;Iglesias, Sanromán, & Pazos, 2014;Mao, Jiang, Xiao, & Yu, 2015;Mulligan, Yong, & Gibbs, 2001;Panizza et al, 2013;Wang, Hoag, Collins, & Naidu, 2013;Ying, 2006). In this study, the frequently used surfactants, namely Tween 80, Triton X-100, and Brij 35, are selected, and their properties are listed in Supporting Information Table S3 (Iglesias et al, 2014).…”

The Total Solubility of the Co-Solubilized PAHs with Similar Structures Indicated by NMR Chemical Shift

“…In recent years, many studies have been carried out on the solubilization of PAHs by surfactants [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Aryal et al reported that a single surfactant solution above CMC can enhance the solubility of phenanthrene (Phe) and pyrene (Pyr) in water, and the solubility was linearly proportional to the surfactant concentration [ 24 ].…”

Formation and Physical Stability of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Essential Oil Based Nanoemulsions Co-Stabilized with Tea Saponin and Synthetic Surfactant

“…The decrease in droplet size was attributed to the relatively sufficient surfactant concentration to decrease the oil-water interfacial tension, cover the ZBEO droplets, and prevent the droplet coalescence [11,23,37]. On the other hand, the increasing in droplet diameter at higher Tween 40 levels can be attributed to the appearance of micelles, which promoted the depletion flocculation when droplet size was relatively large; however, this effect can be hampered once the droplet dimension below a certain level [7,38]. Based on these results and in connection with the aim of this study, the optimum SOR was 5:5 for further experiments.…”

“…On the other hand, the surface tension values became constant in the presence of TS, which could be attributed to the saturation of surfactant concentration. Above a particular surfactant concentration, called critical micelle concentration (CMC), the surfactants begin to form self-assembled micelles and surface tension values becomes almost constant [38].…”