Surfactant enhanced thermally activated persulfate remediating PAHs-contaminated soil: Insight into compatibility, degradation processes and mechanisms

Wei Zhang; Wenjie Wu; Jianfei Wu; Xiaobin Liu; Jian Tian; Heng Li; Qingbiao Li; Yanmei Zheng

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139086

Surfactant enhanced thermally activated persulfate remediating PAHs-contaminated soil: Insight into compatibility, degradation processes and mechanisms

Chemosphere. 2023 Sep:335:139086. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139086. Epub 2023 May 30.

Authors

Wei Zhang¹, Wenjie Wu¹, Jianfei Wu¹, Xiaobin Liu², Jian Tian¹, Heng Li³, Qingbiao Li⁴, Yanmei Zheng⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, 422 Siming South Road, Xiamen, Fujian, 361005, PR China.
² Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, 422 Siming South Road, Xiamen, Fujian, 361005, PR China; College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, PR China.
³ Key Laboratory of Estuarine Ecological Security and Environmental Health, Tan Kah Kee College, Xiamen University, Zhangzhou, PR China.
⁴ Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, 422 Siming South Road, Xiamen, Fujian, 361005, PR China; College of Food and Biology Engineering, Jimei University, 185 Yinjiang Road, Xiamen, Fujian, 361021, PR China. Electronic address: kelqb@xmu.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, 422 Siming South Road, Xiamen, Fujian, 361005, PR China. Electronic address: zym@xmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37263513
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139086

Abstract

Although advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) based on persulfate (PS) is an attractive approach for repairing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contaminated soils, limited oxidizability of PAHs and efficient in-situ activation of PS hinder its practical applications. In this study, we comprehensively examined the contributions of five representative surfactants on the oxidative remediation of PAHs-contaminated soil in terms of degradation kinetics of the pollutants, and further proposed an innovative coupling strategy of surfactant-enhanced thermally activated PS remediating PAHs-contaminated soil. The results showed that the degradation process of PAHs in soil was significantly facilitated only via adding sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate (SDBS) and fitted the pseudo-first-order kinetic pattern. The removal of phenanthrene (PHE) reached 98.56% at 50 mM PS, 50 °C, 5 g L^-1 SDBS and 48 h reaction time, accompanying an increase of 25% in reaction rate constant from 0.0572 h^-1 (without SDBS) to 0.0715 h^-1. More importantly, SDBS-enhanced thermally activated PS degrading PAHs with higher benzene rings were more effective as the reaction rate constants of pyrene (PYR) and benzo(a)anthracene (BaA) were significantly increased by 49.40% and 56.86%. Additionally, only appropriate dosages (5-10 g L^-1) of SDBS facilitated the oxidative degradation of PHE, as well as the aging time of contaminant-soil contact slowed down the enhancement of oxidative degradation of PHE by SDBS. Scavenger experiments demonstrated that SO₄^·- and ¹O₂ were the dominant reactive oxygen species. Finally, a possible oxidative degradation pathway of PHE was proposed, and the toxicity of derived intermediates got alleviation by the assessment using the Toxicity Estimation Software Tool. This investigation was promising for in situ scale-up remediation of PAHs-contaminated soil.

Keywords: Degradation kinetics; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Soil remediation; Surfactant; Thermally activated persulfate.

MeSH terms

Biodegradation, Environmental
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons* / analysis
Pulmonary Surfactants*
Soil
Soil Pollutants* / analysis
Surface-Active Agents

Substances

Surface-Active Agents
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
phenanthrene
Pulmonary Surfactants
Soil
Soil Pollutants