SGER: Degradation of Toxaphene by Zero-Valent Iron and Modified Iron Surfaces

本研究主要探讨以零价铁为改性基质降解环境中毒杀芬污染物的效果。 化学化合物毒杀芬是一种杀虫剂，已被发现对人类和环境生态系统构成重大风险。由于其曾经的广泛使用及其在环境中持续存在的趋势，这种氯化有机混合物已成为环境工程师和科学家主要关注的污染物。这项拟议研究的知识价值包括收集有关毒杀芬与零价铁和改性铁基质接触的降解率、毒杀芬与这些固体基质的吸附/分配系数、毒杀芬脱氯的潜在途径、基质的改性如何影响毒杀芬脱氯以及这一数据的潜在速率限制因素的信息。 拟议的实验包括批处理和动力学实验室研究，并通过气相色谱分析进行评价。此外，可忽略的电力需求和铁的低成本可能使该技术对环境清洁工业非常有利。这项研究的更广泛的影响是，它也将被用来吸引和扩大那些参与这种研究的多样性，通过提供一个夏季的研究机会，从一个代表性不足的群体，以帮助工作在拟议的研究高中三年级或四年级。由SGER资助的这项研究提供的数据将表明，将这项研究应用于最初探索的化合物毒杀芬之外的可行性，并可能超出未来现场应用的实验室实验。

This research focuses on the examination and application of modified substrates including zero-valent iron to degrade toxaphene contamination found in the environment. The chemical compound toxaphene is a pesticide that has been found to pose significant risks to both humans and the environmental ecosystem. Due to its once widespread use and its tendency to persist in the environment, this chlorinated organic mixture has become a contaminant of major concern for environmental engineers and scientists. The intellectual merits of this proposed study include the gathering of information regarding the degradation rates of toxaphene in contact with the zero-valent iron and modified iron substrates, the adsorption/partitioning coefficients of toxaphene with relation to these solid substrates, the potential pathways of toxaphene dechlorination, how modification of the substrates affect the dechlorination of toxaphene, and the potential rate limiting factors for this data. The proposed experimentation includes batch and kinetic laboratory studies and evaluation by gas chromatographic analysis. In addition, the negligible power requirements and the low cost of iron potentially make this technique very advantageous to the environmental clean-up industry. The broader impact of this study is that it would also be used to attract and broaden the diversity of those participating in such research by providing a summer research opportunity for a high school junior or senior from an underrepresented group to help work on the proposed research. The data provided by this research funded by the SGER would show the feasibility for applying this research beyond the initially explored compound, toxaphene, and potentially beyond the laboratory-based experiments for future field application.