Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Volume 49, Issue 9, Pages 5645-5653Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/es5061512
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Funding
- National Key Basic Research Program of China [2013CB934303, 2014CB441105]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [41401252]
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China [BK20141047]
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
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This study investigated the effects of metals (Fe3+, Cu2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+) and phenolic compounds (PCs: hydroquinone, catechol, and phenol) loaded on biomass on the formation of persistent free radicals (PFRs) in biochar. It was found that metal and phenolic compound treatments not only increased the concentrations of PFRs in biochar but also changed the types of PFRs formed, which indicated that manipulating the amount of metals and PCs in biomass may be an efficient method to regulate PFRs in biochar. These results provided direct evidence to elucidate the mechanism of PFR formation in biochar. Furthermore, the catalytic ability of biochar toward persulfate activation for the degradation of contaminants was evaluated. The results indicated that biochar activates persulfate to produce sulfate radicals (SO4 center dot-) and degraded polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) efficiently. It was found that both the concentration and type of PFRs were the dominant factors controlling the activation of persulfate by biochar and that superoxide radical anions account for 20-30% of sulfate radical generation in biochar/persulfate. This conclusion was supported by linear correlations between the concentration of PFRs consumed and the formation of SO4 center dot- and between lambda (lambda = [formed sulfate radicals]/[consumed PFRs]) and g-factors. The findings of this study provide new methods to manipulate PFR concentration in biochar for the transformation of contaminants and development of new alternative activators for persulfate-based remediation of contaminated soils.
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