[Enhanced reductive decoloration of methylene blue by polyacrylic acid modified zero-valent iron nanoparticles]

Nano zerovalent iron ( NZVI) technology has attracted tremendous amount of interests for degrading a number of environmental contaminants found both in surface water and underground water. However, these nanoscale particles are prone to aggregate, which may result in the decrease of its reactivity in liquid phase. Iron nanoparticles (Fe NPs) modified with polyacrylic acid (PAA) has enhanced the dispersion of NZVI and reduced its agglomeration. For the first time, PAA modified NPs (PAA-Fe NPs) were used for degradation of methylene blue in water phase. The PAA-Fe NPs prepared were characterized in terms of TEM, SEM, XRD and specific surface area. The results indicated that, the surface area of PAA-Fe NPs was increased, compared with unmodified pristine zero-valent iron NPs, and PAA-Fe NPs were smoother with smaller particle size. With addition of 0.1 g x L(-1) of PAA, the decolorization efficiency of methylene blue by PAA-Fe NPs was 98.84% in 60 min, which was 27.32% higher than that of pristine Fe NPs. Decolorization efficiencies were also affected by initial pH value, initial concentration of methylene blue, dosage of PAA-Fe NPs, and degradation temperature. Kinetic analyses based on the experimental data illustrated that the decolorization reaction of methylene blue fitted well to the pseudo first-order kinetics model.