Emerging investigator series: 3D graphene anchored zerovalent Fe/Cu aerogel activating persulfate for efficiently 2, 4 dichlorophenol degradation over a broad pH range. Issue 4 (18th January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Kai; Li, Mengran; Zhu, Zhenlong; Gao, Baolin; Zeng, Haicen; Ma, Yibing; Fang, Liping
• Is Part Of: Environmental science. Volume 7:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 714
• Page End: 725
• Publication Date: 2021-01-18
• Subjects: Water-supply -- Periodicals; Water security -- Periodicals; Water resources development -- Periodicals; Water chemistry -- Periodicals; 553.705
• DOI: 10.1039/d0ew01091j
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2053-1400

Abstract

Abstract : 3D graphene anchored zerovalent metal aerogel as an alternative route for the efficient removal of organic pollutants from wastewater. Abstract : Nanoscale zero-valent bimetals are receiving considerable attention because of their excellent capability to degrade organic pollutants in water; however, nanoparticle aggregation reduces their reactivity, and the difficult separation limits their general application. Herein, we have developed a novel graphene aerogel anchored nano zero-valent iron and copper (GA-Fe/Cu) composite for the removal of 2, 4-dichlorophenol (DCP) through activation by persulfate (PS) under aerobic conditions. The results show that the GA-Fe/Cu aerogel exhibits outstanding performances in the DCP degradation by PS activation, which increase as the Fe/Cu loading increases from 3.1% [GA-Fe/Cu(3.1)] to 9.4% [GA-Fe/Cu(9.4)]. The GA-Fe/Cu(9.4) aerogel exhibits an optimal catalytic activity for DCP degradation (∼100%) by PS activation within 60 min ( k 1 = 0.0748 min −1 ). The degradation efficiency of DCP by GA-Fe/Cu(9.4) significantly increases with increasing PS concentration, and slightly decreases from 100% to 80% upon increasing the pH from 4.5 to 9.5. The SO4 ˙ −, ˙OH, and ˙O2 − radicals are found to be the dominant reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by PS activation with GA-Fe/Cu(9.4), while non-radical mechanisms induced by GA appear to be also responsible for the DCP degradation. In addition, 83.2% of DCP is found to be completely mineralized by this reaction system. Thus, the findings of this work provide an alternative route for the efficient removal of organic pollutants from water.