TREATMENT OF CHLORINATED ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS WITH NANOSCALE BIMETALLIC PARTICLES

Nanoscale bimetallic particles (Pd/Fe, Pd/Zn, Pt/Fe, Ni/Fe) have been synthesized in the laboratory for treatment of chlorinated organic pol lutants. Specific surface areas of the nanoscale particles are tens of times larger than those of commercially available microscale metal pa rticles. Rapid and complete dechlorination of several chlorinated orga nic solvents and chlorinated aromatic compounds was achieved by using the nanoscale bimetallic particles. Evidence observed suggests that wi thin the bimetallic complex, one metal (Fe, Zn) serves primarily as el ectron donor while the other as catalyst (Pd, Pt). Surface-area-normal ized reactivity constants are about 100 times higher than those of mic roscale iron particles. Production of chlorinated byproducts, frequent ly reported in studies with iron particles, is notably reduced due to the presence of catalyst. The nano-particle technology offers great op portunities for both fundamental research and technological applicatio ns in environmental engineering and science. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.