Rapid reductive destruction of hazardous organic compounds by nanoscale Fe⁰

Fe⁰-mediated reductive destruction of hazardous organic compounds such as chlorinated organic compounds (COCs) and nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) in the aqueous phase is one of the latest innovative technologies. In this paper, rapid reductive degradation of COCs and NACs by synthesized nanoscale Fe⁰ in anaerobic batch systems was presented. The nanoscale Fe⁰, characterized by high specific surface area and high reactivity, rapidly transformed trichloroethylene (TCE), chloroform (CF), nitrobenzene (NB), nitrotoluene (NT), dinitrobenzene (DNB) and dinitrotoluene (DNT) under ambient conditions, which results in complete disappearance of the parent compounds from the aqueous phase within a few minutes. GC analysis reported that the main products of the dechlorination of TCE and CF were ethane and methane as well as that most of the nitro groups in NACs were reductively transformed to amine groups. These results suggest that the rapid reductive destruction by nanoscale Fe⁰ is potentially a viable in situ or aboveground treatment of groundwater contaminated with hazardous organic compounds including COCs and NACs. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.