Supported iron-based catalysts under influence of static magnetic field for the removal of TBP and EDTA

Abstract

Zerovalent metals offer decontamination of organic toxins in aqueous medium. In the present study, alumina-based iron and iron–nickel in the presence and the absence of magnetic field for the decontamination of tributyl phosphate (TBP) and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) has been compared. TBP decontamination was improved in the presence of zerovalent metals. EDTA decontamination was not enhanced in the presence of zerovalent metals. The decontamination of TBP using iron-based alumina was higher than iron–nickel. The surface interaction on alumina surface, as characterized by attentuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the surface interaction on metallic elements, as characterized by evaluating the magnetic moment values helped to understand the reason for the difference in role of alumina-based iron and iron–nickel on decontamination of TBP and EDTA.

Keywords:

• Magnetic nanocatalyst
• Degradation
• TBP
• EDTA
• SQUID magnetization

Acknowledgment

The authors thank Marie Curie Fellowship funded by European Commissions Grants Agreement Number MKTD-CT-2006-042637 and Finnish Cultural Foundation for the financial support for this work. They also thank Ms Eveliina Repo for ICP analyses, Helsinki University of Technology for providing Squid facility, University of Helsinki for providing XRD facility, Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences for SEM and ATR-FTIR facility.