The degradation of decabromodiphenyl ether in the e-waste site by biochar supported nanoscale zero-valent iron/persulfate

Biochar supported nano zero-valent iron (BC-nZVI) synthesized through liquid phase reduction method was used to activate persulfate (PS) for the removal of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209) in the soil. The morphology, structure and composition of BC-nZVI were determined by SEM, XRD, XPS and FTIR. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of different factors, such as the molar ratio of PS to BC-nZVI, pH value of PS solution and reaction temperature, on the degradation efficiency of BDE209. Results showed that when the molar ratio of PS/BC-nZVI was 3:1, pH value was 3, reaction temperature was 40 degrees C, 82.06% of BDE209 could be removed within 240 min. The process fitted pseudo-first-order kinetics model well and the apparent activation energy (Ea) was 48.92 kJ mol(-1), indicating that the process was controlled by surface reaction. The quenching experiments showed that SO4- was predominate radical species in the degradation process in acid and neutral condition. However, center dot OH played more important role in alkaline condition. GC-MS was used to determine the reaction products for inferring the degradation pathway of BDE209 in soil by BC-nZVI/PS system.