• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.38 no.12
• /
• pp.667-675
• /
• 2016

Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) has been effectively applied for environmental remediation due to its ability to reduce various toxic compounds. However, quantification of nZVI reactivity has not yet been standardized. Here, we adapted colorimetric assays for determining reductive activity of nZVIs. A modified indophenol method was suggested to determine reducing activity of nZVI. The method was originally developed to determine aqueous ammonia concentration, but it was further modified to quantify phenol and aniline. The assay focused on analysis of reduction products rather than its mother compounds, which gave more accurate quantification of reductive activity. The suggested color assay showed superior selectivity toward reduction products, phenol or aniline, in the presence of mother compounds, 4-chlorophenol or nitrobenzene. Reaction conditions, such as reagent concentration and reaction time, were optimized to maximize sensitivity. Additionally, pretreatment step using $Na_2CO_3$ was suggested to eliminate the interference of residual iron ions. Monometallic nZVI and bimetallic Ni/Fe were investigated with the reaction. The substrates showed graduated reactivity, and thus, reduction potency and kinetics of different materials and reaction mechanism was distinguished. The colorimetric assay based on modified indophenol reaction can be promises to be a useful and simple tool in various nZVI related research topics.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.38 no.9
• /
• pp.521-527
• /
• 2016

Nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI) has been intensively studied for the treatment of a plethora of pollutants through reductive reaction, however, the nano size should be of concern when nZVI is considered for water treatment, due to difficulties in recovery. The loss of nZVI causes not only economical loss, but also potential risk to human health and environment. Thus, the immobilization onto coarse or structured support is essential. In this study, two representative processes for nZVI immobilization on granular activated carbon (GAC) were evaluated, and optimized conditions for synthesizing Fe/GAC composite were suggested. Both total iron content and $Fe_0$ content can be significantly affected by preparation processes, therefore, it was important to avoid oxidation during preparation to achieve higher reduction capacity. Synthesis conditions such as reduction time and existence of intermediate drying step were investigated to improve $Fe_0$ content of Fe/GAC composites. The optimal condition was two hours of $NaBH_4$ reduction without intermediate drying process. The prepared Fe/GAC composite showed synergistic effect of the adsorption capability of the GAC and the degradation capability of the nZVI, which make this composite a very effective material for environmental remediation.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.313-325
• /
• 2007

In order to have better insights into adsorption of organic molecules on kaolinite surfaces, we performed quantum chemical calculations of interaction between three different model clusters of kaolinite siloxane surfaces and benzyl alcohol, with emphasis on the effect of size and lattice topology of the cluster on the variation of electron density and magnetic shielding tensor. Model cluster 1 is an ideal silicate tetrahedral surface that consists of 7 hexagonal rings, and model cluster 2 is composed of 7 ditrigonal siloxane rings with crystallographically distinct basal oxygen atoms in the cluster, and finally model cluster 3 has both tetrahedral and octahedral layers. The Mulliken charge analysis shows that siloxane surface of model cluster 3 undergoes the largest electron density transfer after the benzyl alcohol adsorption and that of model cluster 1 is apparently larger than that of model cluster 2. The difference of Mulliken charges of basal oxygen atoms before and after the adsorption is positively correlated with hydrogen bond strength. NMR chemical shielding tensor calculation of clusters without benryl alcohol shows that three different basal oxygen atoms (O3, O4, and O5) in model cluster 2 have the isotropic magnetic shielding tensor as $228.2{\pm}3.9,\;228.9{\pm}3.4,\;and\;222.3{\pm}3.0ppm$, respectively. After the adsorption, the difference of isotropic chemical shift varies from 1 to 5.5 ppm fer model cluster 1 and 2 while model cluster 2 apparently shows larger changes in isotropic chemical shift. The chemical shift of oxygen atoms is also positively correlated with electron density transfer. The current results show that the adsorption of benzyl alcohol on the kaolinite siloxane surfaces can largely be dominated by a weak hydrogen bonding and electrostatic force (charge-charge interaction) and demonstrate the importance of the cluster site and the lattice topology of surfaces on the adsorption behavior of the organic molecules on clay surfaces.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.377-384
• /
• 2003

High impact polystyrene/organically modified layered silicate (HIPS/OLS) nanocomposites by in situ polymerization were synthesized to investigate the effect of clay on the particle size and properties of rubber. In the OLS, the montmorillonite having benzyl group showed best dispersion in polystyrene phase. With the addition of clay, the intercalated peak from XRB was confirmed, but the peak gradually shifted to lower angle as rubber concentration increased. Thus, it is speculated that the organoclay disperses better in rubber phase than in polystyrene phase. The average rubber particle size increased and the particle size distribution widened as the amount of clay increased, which may be caused by the increase of the viscosity ratio of rubber to polystyrene phases and the unstable dispersion. The materials having clay showed improved thermal properties from thermogravimetric analysis. Rheological properties such as complex viscosity and storage modulus increased as the amount of clay increased.