Improved fractal kinetic model to predict mechanochemical destruction rate of organic pollutants

Mechanochemical destruction of organic pollutants by high energy milling with inorganic reagents is considered a promising non-thermal technology to detoxify hazardous waste. However, due to complex nature of the physicochemical phenomena involved, pollutant destruction kinetics heavily depends on the used reagents and operating parameters, thus varying case by case. In the present work, a fractal model was validated as flexible tool to interpolate pollutant mechanochemical destruction data satisfactorily. In addition, such model was expanded to estimate the contributions of the inorganic reagent and the pollutant to the overall reaction rate. Specifically, the kinetic constant associated to mechanical activation of the co-milling reagent and that related to pollutant destruction reaction were calculated. Their values resulted to depend only on the specific compound, hence, the tabulated data could be used to predict the pollutant mechanochemical degradation rate for any kind of mixture.

Automated summary

Mechanochemical destruction of organic pollutants using high energy milling with inorganic reagents is a promising non-thermal technology for detoxifying hazardous waste. A fractal model was validated as a flexible tool to interpolate pollutant mechanochemical destruction data and estimate the contributions of the inorganic reagent and the pollutant to the overall reaction rate. The kinetic constants associated with mechanical activation of the co-milling reagent and pollutant destruction reaction were found to be dependent on the specific compound, allowing for prediction of pollutant degradation rates for various mixtures.