Reduction of Nitrate in Groundwater by Fe(0)/Magnetite Nanoparticles Entrapped in Ca-Alginate Beads

Calcium alginate beads entrapping a mixture of Fe(0) and nanosized magnetite (NMT) were prepared and evaluated for their capability to reduce nitrate in groundwater. Microscopic and spectroscopic analyses of the beads revealed that clusters of Fe(0)/NMT were entirely embedded in alginate polymer matrix containing a large number of carboxylic and hydroxyl functional groups. The extent of nitrate reduction increased with increasing content of Fe(0) and NMT in the beads, but there was a critical NMT mass limit relative to Fe(0) mass where no further increase in nitrate reduction occurred. The beads showed slower nitrate reduction kinetics than bare Fe(0)/NMT but had comparable capacity in overall nitrate removal. Nitrate reduction increased proportionally with an increase in bead dosage to give a maximum removal of 94.5 % at 37.5 g L-1 in 48 h. Nitrate reduction with 50 g L-1 beads achieved completion of two reduction cycles in 72 h to reduce 2.19 mM nitrate to less than 0.71 mM (10 mg-N L-1) in each cycle. The overall results demonstrated that the beads developed in this study have a potential utility in remediation of nitrate in groundwater.