Advancements in reduction technologies in the past few decades have brought zero-valent metals (ZVMs) to the forefront of this field, wherein zero-valent iron (ZVI) has become a state of the practice for groundwater remediation. Several innovative metallic-based reagents for water treatment have been developed, including bimetallic formulations. Bimetal particles are essentially enhanced ZVM systems, wherein the reduction process is catalyzed with the addition of a more cathodic metal, which creates an electrochemical cell. Bimetals can be further enhanced by utilizing a more thermodynamically reductive base metal than iron, such as magnesium. In this work, the synthesis of bimetal Mg/Cu was studied under five different factors: initial pH, catalytic metal salt type, initial dissolved oxygen content, catalytic metal loading, and synthesis time. The synthesis method studied was deposition of aqueous Cu onto Mg granules. A full factorial study using 2 levels led to testing 32 different synthesis conditions. Emphasis was maintained on how the bimetal material synthesis affected water treatment, therefore the responses measured were reaction kinetic constants (k’) and dissolved metal concentrations (Mg and Cu). Kinetic constants were obtained from pseudo-first-order regression using an explosive contaminant, nitroguanidine (NQ), as a model pollutant. Bimetal synthesis and subsequent treatment occurred isothermally in a water bath at 24 degrees C. Statistical models were developed revealing the significance of each factor’s main effects to the measured responses at the 90% and 95% confidence levels. The significance of positive and negative interactions between the factors was also evaluated.

Factors impacting bimetal particle synthesis: a full factorial study for enhanced reductive treatment

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

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