| Title |
A Study on the Degradation Properties of Aqueous Trinitrotoluene by Palladium Catalyst and Formic Acid |
| Authors |
정상조 ( Sangjo Jeong ) ; 최형진 ( Hyungjin Choi ) ; 박상진 ( Sangjin Park ) ; 이준일 ( Juneil Lee ) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.15681/KSWE.2015.31.5.468 |
| Keywords |
Catalyst; Degradation; Formic acid; Palladium; Trinitrotoluene |
| Abstract |
Various methods to degrade explosives efficiently in natural soil and water that include trinitrotoluene (TNT) have been studied. In this study, TNT in water was degraded by reduction with palladium (Pd) catalyst impregnated onto alumina (henceforth Pd-Al catalyst) and formic acid. The degradation of TNT was faster when the temperature of water was high, and the initial TNT concentration, pH, and ion concentration in water were low. The amounts of Pd-Al catalyst and formic acid were also important for TNT degradation in water. According to the experimental results, the degradation constant of TNT with unit mass of Pd-Al catalyst was 8.37 min-1g-1. The degradation constant of TNT was higher than the results of previous studies which used zero valent iron. 2,6-diamino-4-nitrotoluene and 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene were detected as by-products of TNT degradation showing that TNT was reduced. The by-products of TNT were also completely degraded after reaction when both Pd-Al catalyst and formic acid existed. Even though there are several challenges of Pd-Al catalyst (e.g., deactivation, poisoning, leaching, etc.), the results of this study show that TNT degradation by Pd-Al catalyst and formic acid is a promising technique to remediate explosive contaminated water and soil. |