RESEARCH ARTICLE

Synthesis, characterization and application of nano lepidocrocite and magnetite in the degradation of carbon tetrachloride

Ashutosh Agarwal^{I, *}; Himanshu Joshi^I; Anil Kumar^II

^IDepartment of Hydrology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India
^IIDepartment of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India

ABSTRACT

Degradation of halogenated organic compounds using nanoparticles is one of the innovative technologies in environmental remediation. In the present study, the synthesis, characterization and application of lepidocrocite (FeOOH) and magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles for the remediation of water contaminated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) has been investigated. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by using advanced instrumental techniques such as field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The synthesized FeOOH and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were found to have an average crystallite size of 10.94 nm and 18.10 nm, respectively. Batch degradation experiments for the degradation of CCl₄ were carried out separately using both of the above synthesized nanoparticles. The degradation reactions were found to be first-order while using Fe₃O₄ and second-order while using FeOOH nanoparticles. Moreover, the reactivity of freshly synthesized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles was found to be much higher than that of FeOOH nanoparticles.

Keywords: Nanoparticles, magnetite, lepidocrocite, carbon tetrachloride, degradation kinetics

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Acknowledgements

Many thanks go to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India, for the award of Junior Research Fellowship to Ashutosh Agarwal. Thanks are also due to the Head, Institute Instrumentation Centre, IIT Roorkee, for the use of the FESEM and XRD facilities.

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Received 3 February 2011
Revised 19 September 2011
Accepted 4 October 2011

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: wheland@rediffmail.com