TY - JOUR
T1 - Catalytic oxidation of TNT by activated carbon
AU - Vasilyeva, G. K.
AU - Kreslavski, V. D.
AU - Shea, P. J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by NSF/EPSCoR cooperative agreement no. 925522, RFBR (Russia) no. 01-05-70096, and is a contribution of project NEB 12-239. Journal series no. 13207, Agric. Res. Div., University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We thank Dr. S.D. Comfort for valuable discussions and use of laboratory facilities.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Activated carbon can remove 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene (TNB) from aqueous solution and promote oxidation of TNT. After equilibrating a 0.35 mM TNT solution with activated carbon (0.2-1% w/v), HPLC and GC/MS analysis confirmed the presence of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzaldehyde (TNBAld) and 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TNB), and provided strong evidence supporting 2,4,6- trinitrobenzyl alcohol (TNBAlc) as an intermediate of TNT oxidation. After 6 d, TNT and its oxidation products were strongly bound to the activated carbon, while TNB was extractable with acetonitrile. Observations indicate that activated carbon catalyzes TNT oxidation to TNBAlc, which is readily oxidized to TNBAld and TNB in the absence of activated carbon under dark conditions. While adsorbed TNB was extractable with acetonitrile, activated carbon promoted rapid TNT oxidation and formation of unextractable residues. Strong binding is attributed to catalyzed oxidation of the TNT methyl group, probably through a free radical mechanism, and subsequent chemisorption of oligomers and polymerized products that are not desorbed from micropores. Our observations indicate TNT oxidation and bound residue formation after sorption by activated carbon increases the effectiveness of activated carbon to decontaminate water.
AB - Activated carbon can remove 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene (TNB) from aqueous solution and promote oxidation of TNT. After equilibrating a 0.35 mM TNT solution with activated carbon (0.2-1% w/v), HPLC and GC/MS analysis confirmed the presence of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzaldehyde (TNBAld) and 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TNB), and provided strong evidence supporting 2,4,6- trinitrobenzyl alcohol (TNBAlc) as an intermediate of TNT oxidation. After 6 d, TNT and its oxidation products were strongly bound to the activated carbon, while TNB was extractable with acetonitrile. Observations indicate that activated carbon catalyzes TNT oxidation to TNBAlc, which is readily oxidized to TNBAld and TNB in the absence of activated carbon under dark conditions. While adsorbed TNB was extractable with acetonitrile, activated carbon promoted rapid TNT oxidation and formation of unextractable residues. Strong binding is attributed to catalyzed oxidation of the TNT methyl group, probably through a free radical mechanism, and subsequent chemisorption of oligomers and polymerized products that are not desorbed from micropores. Our observations indicate TNT oxidation and bound residue formation after sorption by activated carbon increases the effectiveness of activated carbon to decontaminate water.
KW - Bound residues
KW - Catalyzed oxidation
KW - Decontamination
KW - Remediation
KW - Sorption
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U2 - 10.1016/S0045-6535(01)00304-6
DO - 10.1016/S0045-6535(01)00304-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 11996152
AN - SCOPUS:0036199474
SN - 0045-6535
VL - 47
SP - 311
EP - 317
JO - Chemosphere
JF - Chemosphere
IS - 3
ER -