Enhancement of Nanoscale Zero-valent Iron Immobilization on Polyvinyl Alcohol Sponge through Surface Modification

Abstract

Objectives Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) is known to effectively remove various contaminants due to its small size and high specific surface area, but it is limited in practical water treatment processes due to its difficulty in recovery after use. In this study, a method of immobilizing nZVI on a support material was adopted in order to increase the applicability of nZVI. A polyvinyl alcohol sponge (PVA), which is readily available commercially, was used as a support. For the immobilization of nZVI, it was considered that improving the binding force with the support is essential in order to enhance the pollutant removal efficiency and prevent nZVI loss. A series of surface modification methods with acrylic acid to induce the formation of carboxyl groups were used to improve the bonding strength with the support. Methods A PVA sponge with a porosity of 90%, an average pore size of 130 µm, and an apparent density of 0.082 g/cm3 was used as a supporting material to immobilize nZVI. The PVA sponge was further cut into cubes of 0.3 × 0.3 × 0.3 cm3 for easy handling. The PVA sponge induced an acrylic acid polymer on the surface through the reaction of acrylic acid and potassium permanganate (PVA-AA). We optimized the conditions in a series of steps to synthesize nZVI on PVA-AA. The conditions considered were the mass ratio of Fe2+ and PVA, Fe2+ adsorption time, and the reduction time using NaBH4. A SEM/EDS analysis was performed to monitor the morphology of the synthesized nZVI on PVA-AA. The reduction reactivity was evaluated through nitrate reduction. Results and Discussion The amount of Fe2+ adsorption of the support material modified with AA (PVA-AA) was superior to that of the unmodified material (PVA), and the time to reach the adsorption equilibrium was shortened to 30 min. The optimum mass ratio was Fe/PVA-AA = 1. These results indicate that carboxyl groups are formed on the surface of PVA by surface modification using AA and that these carboxyl groups induce strong binding affinity toward iron. The SEM/EDS analysis results showed that AA polymer was formed on the surface of the PVA sponge fiber through AA modification. Moreover, a large amount of nZVI was formed on AA modified PVA (PVA-AA). As the reduction time was increased from 0.5 h to 1 h, the distribution of nZVI iron on the surface and inside the support was more uniform. Finally, the reducing reactivity was evaluated through a nitrate reduction experiment. The reduction efficiency and the reduction rate of PVA-AA-nZVI were 1.9 times and 3.5 times higher than those of PVA-nZVI, respectively. Conclusions A surface modification technology was developed to enhance nZVI immobilization on a commercially available supporting material. Through the modification of acrylic acid on the surface of a PVA sponge, which can be easily obtained on the market, it was possible to increase the attachment efficiency of nZVI by forming a large number of carboxyl groups on the surface, and subsequently higher pollutant reduction efficiency could be obtained. It is expected that both the economic efficiency and the ability to remove contaminants can be improved by the development of a material having an increased amount of nZVI by the surface modification technology developed in this study. Key words: Nanoscale Zero-valent Iron, Polyvinyl Alcohol, Supporting Material, Surface Modification, Acrylic Acid