Comparison Degradation of Pentachlorophenol Using Microwave-Induced Nanoscale Fe~0 and Activated Carbon

摘要

Microwave (MW) is applied to enhance pentachlorophenol (PCP) removal using zerovalent iron (ZVI, Fe~0) or granular activated carbon (GAC) as the dielectric media. Applying MW energy at 700 W for 20 s, the results show that Fe° is capable of enhancing the CB removing 2.7 times (91% vs. 34 %) than GAC. Because Fe~0 has higher dielectric loss (39.5 F/m vs. 8.3 F/m), it absorbs more MW energy to speed up the oxidation rate resulting in a faster temperature rise than GAC. Thus, in the presence of MW, Fe~0 is superior to GAC for PCP removal. Additionally, excessive MW exposure will damage the surface structure of either Fe~0 or GAC causing excessive electric charges to accumulate in the media that brings about the phenomenon of sparks.