Enhanced Degradation of TNT and RDX by Bio-reduced Iron Bearing Soil Minerals

We demonstrated that reductive degradation of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (Royal Demolition Explosive, RDX) can be enhanced by bio-reduced iron-bearing soil minerals (IBSMs) using Shewanella putrefaciens CN32 (CN32). The degradation kinetic rate constant of TNT by bio-reduced magnetite was the highest (0.0039 $h^{-1}$), followed by green rust (0.0022 $h^{-1}$), goethite (0.0017 $h^{-1}$), lepidocrocite (0.0016 $h^{-1}$), and hematite (0.0006 $h^{-1}$). The highest rate constant was obtained by bio-reduced lepidocrocite (0.1811 $h^{-1}$) during RDX degradation, followed by magnetite (0.1700 $h^{-1}$), green rust (0.0757 $h^{-1}$), hematite (0.0495 $h^{-1}$), and goethite (0.0394 $h^{-1}$). Significant increase of Fe(II) was observed during the reductive degradation of TNT and RDX by bio-reduced IBSMs. X-ray diffraction and electron microscope analyses were conducted for identification of degradation mechanism of TNT and RDX in this study. 4-amino-dinitrotoluene were detected as products during TNT degradation, while Hexahydro-1-nitroso-3,5-dinitro-1,3,5-triazine, Hexahydro-1,3-dinitroso-5-nitro-1,3,5triazine, and Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitroso-1,3,5-triazine were observed during RDX degradation.