Reductive dechlorination of carbon tetrachloride by bioreduction of nontronite

Abstract

Reductive dechlorination of carbon tetrachloride (CT) was investigated during bioreduction of iron-containing clay mineral (i.e., nontronite) by iron-reducing bacteria (Shewanella putrefaciens CN32 (CN32)). In the absence of CT, the production of Fe(II) significantly increased in nontronite suspension with CN32 in 124 d (11.1% of Fe(III) reduction), resulting in formation of new secondary Fe(II) mineral phase (i.e., vivianite (FeII3(PO4)2·8H2O)). In the presence of CT, an acceleration of CT dechlorination was observed after 13 d and it reached almost 68% of removal efficiency at 32 d in nontronite suspension with CN32, which was 1.8 times higher than that by CN32 alone (37%). Significant amounts of formate (30.1%) and CO (2.4%) were measured during the CT dechlorination in the nontronite suspension with CN32. Results obtained from Fe(II) measurement and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed the acceleration of Fe(II) production after 13 d and the formation of vivianite in the range of 13–25 d, suggesting that the biogenic vivianite enhanced the CT dechlorination in this study. Experimental results from batch kinetic tests, Fe(II) measurements, XRD analysis, and by-product study suggested that the formation of vivianite can play a crucial role for the enhanced reductive dechlorination of CT in phosphorous enriched subsurface environments with iron-containing clay minerals.