Over the past two decades, nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) particles have shown promising results for degradation of various organic compounds (including chlorinated solvents represented most typically by TCE) and immobilization of broad range of inorganic compounds. The advantage of nZVI particles lies in their (i) small particle size allowing their migration in groundwater, (ii) high specific surface area enabling high reactivity (i.e., significant effect on solution redox conditions leading to the decrease of oxidation reduction potential below -400 mV) as well as high sorption capacity, and (iii) possibility of their easy modification (surface or bulk chemical treatment, deposition on various substrates, etc.) for targeted application. Although the degradation /removal of organic/inorganic compounds by nZVI is in most cases highly efficient in laboratory conditions, there are challenges associated with application of nZVI-based technologies at real contaminated sites. They include the large extent of contamination, its inhomogeneous distribution in subsurface, complex geology/lithology, and variable hydrogeological conditions. Therefore, the strong reduction power of nZVI particles must be further enhanced by other (readily available and inexpensive) complementary processes, biotic and/or abiotic, in actual remediation applications. The efficiency of such nano-bio combined technology has been successfully demonstrated at numerous field-scale applications.  In this contribution, we will present the basic properties of nZVI particles and derived Fe-based materials, their optimization for higher reactivity with the strong accent to their utilization for removal of emerging persistent/halogenated organic compounds. The major part will be focused on the combination of nZVI with biotic and/or abiotic sources of electrons, both in laboratory-scale and filed-scale tests. Moreover, the effect of nZVI on microbial communities in groundwater, as well as toxicity of nZVI, will be covered in the presentation. Overall, combined nZVI-bio technologies are considered promising and cost-effective ways to enhance nZVI performance for groundwater treatment.  The presented results were obtained within the research project NanoBioWat (Environmentally friendly nanotechnologies and biotechnologies in water and soil treatment; project No. TE01020218 from the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic).

Combined iron nanoparticles-based nano-bio technologies for groundwater remediation

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.