(97b) Toxic Organic Dechlorination Using Membrane Immobilized Fe/Pd Nanoparticles

Current dechlorination of toxic organic compounds at room temperature is done using bulk iron particles. While these materials are effective, nano-scale particles hold the promise of faster and more complete dechlorination. Nanoparticles have a much higher specific surface area, and potentially higher surface area-normalized rate constants. The doping of another metal (Pd or Ni) onto the surface of the nanoparticle further enhances its capabilities by converting hydrogen to reactive H and helping prevent chlorination of organic compounds.

The general objective of this research is to study the reaction kinetics of the dechlorination of polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) using Fe/Pd. To synthesize particles, iron nanoparticles were immobilized on a polyvinyldilene fluoride (PVDF) membrane in a crosslinked matrix of polyacrylic acid (PAA) and ethylene glycol using ion exchange, reduced with sodium borohydride, and coated with palladium. These particles were then used to dechlorinate 2,2',3,5 polychlorobiphenyl in solution at room temperature. To vary particle size, the number of sites available for iron deposition was limited by adjusting the PAA to ethylene glycol ratio.

Support for this research was provided by NSF/REU and NIEHS.