Zero-valent iron (Fe⁰) nanoparticles (NPs) have shown excellent ability to remove contaminants hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) from aquatic systems. Use of support materials can help to prevent oxidation and aggregation of Fe⁰NPs, and thus enhance their remediation efficiency. However, most previous studies were conducted using artificially synthetic wastewater, and little is known on the remediation effects of supported Fe⁰NPs on actual wastewaters containing Cr(VI). Here, bentonite-supported Fe⁰NPs (BFe⁰NPs) with 1⁻5% of bentonite were prepared and characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Batch experiments were performed to study Cr(VI) removal by the selected BFe⁰NPs from a simulated wastewater and a leachate wastewater originating from a Cr slag heap-polluted soil. The results show that Fe⁰NPs were uniformly dispersed on the bentonite, leading to a decreased aggregation of NPs, and the optimal mass ratio of bentonite was 4%. Batch experiment results show that lower pH values favored Cr(VI) removal by BFe⁰NPs. The removal percentage of Cr(VI) was higher than 90% for both wastewaters when the pH value was 2.0, but decreased significantly as pH value increased. Cr(VI) removal reaction was quite fast within the initial 10 min, and at least 85% of Cr(VI) was removed for both wastewaters. Cr(VI) removal percentage increased with increasing BFe⁰NPs dosages ranging from 30 to 60, but remained almost unchanged when the Fe/Cr mass ratio increased to above 60. The reaction of BFe⁰NPs to remove Cr(VI) followed the pseudo second-order reaction model. In most cases, the removal rates of Cr(VI) were higher in simulated wastewater than in leachate wastewater, but all approached 100% at the optimal conditions. Our present results show that BFe⁰NPs with 4% bentonite are efficient for treatment of Cr(VI)-containing wastewaters.
Keywords: bentonite; chromium pollution; nanoparticles; removal percentage; zero-valent iron.