Influence of solution composition and iron powder characteristics on reduction of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol

Kinetics of the 2,4,6-trinitrophenol reaction with iron powder was investigated voltammetrically. The process was found to be mainly governed both by the iron powder characteristics and by the solution composition. Degradation kinetics was generally represented by a pseudo-first-order rate law. Consecutively, the 2,4,6-trinitrophenol reduction reaction rates for three fractions of iron powder as well as the effect of individual ions presented in the reaction system were evaluated. A correlation between the reaction rate and both the grain size of iron particles and the state of their surface was found. The effect of the reaction system composition was investigated for two types of buffered medium: Britton-Robinson buffer (boric acid, orthophosphoric acid, and glacial acetic acid) and acetate buffer solution (sodium acetate and acetic acid). (C) 2008 Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences