Polychlorinated biphenyls contamination in the ground water and sediments still remains a serious environmental problem. Large efforts have been made over the years to degrade these contaminants, with bacterial biodegradation achieving the best results. However, bioremediation encounters problems over the period of remedial process due to the nutrients depletion and dead biomass increase which hampers effectiveness of the process. Development of catalytic systems that can be placed withing the contaminated site and remove and degrade PCB can be an excellent alternative. Recently, iron-palladium systems have attracted attention as quite efficient in such reactions. The catalytic activity is dependent on the good contact between the iron and palladium as the process requires Fe/Pd interphase. It is however quite difficult to force both components to deposit in the same location, maximizing at the same time their contact. In general it is believed that only small addition of palladium is required for effective action of the system. We have developed a new preparation method that allows for minimizing the use of palladium and at the same time maintain high reactivity of the system. These new catalyst are deposited on granulated activated carbon to increase diffusional migration of PCBs towards the active phase of the catalyst. The basic principle of the synthesis relies on the use of a reverse micelle procedure, which encapsulates within the micelle both metal ions, deposits them on the matrix material and maintains their location during the activation process

Bi-phase Catalyst for PCB removal from sediments and ground water

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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