Abstract
Chemical reduction has long dominated thinking about the mechanism of aqueous contaminant removal in the presence of metallic iron (e.g. Fe 0 /H2O systems). However, a large body of experimental evidence indicates that chemical reduction is not adequate to satisfactorily explain the efficiency of Fe 0/H 2 O systems for several substances or classes of substances. By contrast, the alternative approach, that contaminants are fundamentally adsorbed and co-precipitated by iron corrosion products seems to provide a better explanation of observed efficiency. The new approach appears to not be fully understood. The present communication aims at clarifying this key issue. It seems that a paradigm shift is necessary for the further development of the technology using Fe 0 for water treatment.
Highlights
The publication by Thomas Kuhn (1962) of his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was the starting point for the frequent use of the word ‘paradigm’ in many fields of science
It is important to note that results from the very first peer-reviewed articles on the Fe0/H2O systems were uncertain about the real mechanisms of contaminant removal (Table 1)
The kit of tools to investigate contaminant reduction includes a large number of highly sophisticated instruments for determining contaminant concentration and speciation, identifying contaminant reaction products and iron corrosion products as well (McGuire et al, 2003)
Summary
The publication by Thomas Kuhn (1962) of his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was the starting point for the frequent use of the word ‘paradigm’ in many fields of science. It would seem that the role of reductive transformation in the process of contaminant removal by Fe0 fulfils all of the criteria for a true paradigm. A growing body of evidence indicates that factors other than reductive transformations contribute importantly to the process of contaminant removal in Fe0/H2O systems.
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