• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.1008-1012
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• 2008

Nanoscale zero-valent iron(nZVI) is famous for its high reactivity originated from its high surface area and it has received considerable attentions as one of the latest innovative technologies for treating contaminated groundwater. Due to its fine powdery form, nZVI has limited filed applications. The efforts to overcome this shortcoming by immobilizing nZVI on a supporting material have been made. This study investigated the differences of resin-supported nZVI's characteristics by changing the preparation methods and evaluated its reactivity. The borohydride reduction of an iron salt was proceeded in ethanol/water solvent containing a dispersant and the synthesis was conducted in the presence of ion-exchange resin. The resulting material was compared to that prepared in a conventional way of using de-ionized water by measuring the phyrical and chemical characteristics. BET surface area and Fe content of nZVI-attached resin was increased from $31.63m^2/g$ and 18.19 mg Fe/g to $38.10m^2/g$ and 22.44 mg Fe/g, respectively, by switching the solution medium from water to ethanol/water with a dispersant. The reactivity of each material was tested using nitrate solution without pH control. The pseudo first-order constant of $0.462h^{-1}$ suggested the reactivity of resin-supported nZVI prepared in ethanol/water was increased 61 % compared to that of the conventional type of supported nZVI. The specific reaction rate constant based on surface area was also increased. The results suggest that this new supported nZVI can be used successfully in on-site remediation for contaminated groundwater.