Effect of solvent on debromination of decabromodiphenyl ether by Ni/Fe nanoparticles and nano zero-valent iron particles

Nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) and its modified nanomaterials are widely used in the degradation of some halogenated organic pollutants. In this study, we explored the effects of different proportions of tetrahydrofuran (THF) (50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 %) on the degradation of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209) by Ni/Fe and nZVI nanoparticles with reference to the degradation kinetics, products, and pathway. The results illustrated that the effects of solvent on the degradation of BDE209 were similar when the two kinds of nanomaterials were used, although the Ni/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles exhibited a better catalytic activity compared with the pure nZVI during the degradation of BDE209. The apparent reaction rate constant (kobs) increased with the proportion of the water in the system, enhancing the degradation of BDE209. In terms of degradation products, a high proportion of THF led to an accumulation of higher-brominated BDEs, inhibiting the further debromination of BDE209. The inhibitory effect of the solvent (THF) can be explained that water played a role of hydrogen donor during the reductive degradation of BDE209 in the THF/water system. However, the proportion of THF in the degradation system posed no effect on the BDE209 debromination pathway and debromination location. The difficulty of para-debromination was observed in all of the solvent systems. Copyright © 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.