Initial steps in the oxidation of toluene in water through photo-Fenton reaction with iron nanoparticles

CLARA DUCA; HORACIO BOGO; MARTA I. LITTER; ENRIQUE SAN ROMÁN

Jornada; Jornadas 2018 del Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física y el Instituto de Medio Ambiente Materiales y Energía; 2018

Gasoline is a complex mixture of a large number of organic compounds, mainly hydrocarbons. Aromatic compounds, used as additives to enhance the octane rating, constitute a specially relevant fraction. The water soluble portion of gasoline has been shown to be almost entirely aromatic (87-94%) even though the product itself is almost 50% aliphatic. Contamination of water supplies by gasoline aromatic hydrocarbons is of great concern because of their effects on human health (benzene itself is classified as a human carcinogen).Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are innovative technologies which allow the removal of recalcitrant compounds from water. The most commonly used AOPs for the removal of hydrocarbons are the homogeneous Fenton and photo-Fenton processes. In the present case, heterogeneous photo-Fenton using zerovalent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) is applied to the oxidation of toluene in aqueous solution. Fe cations and oxides are formed through acidic corrosion of the nanoparticles. Results are compared with the homogeneous process using soluble Fe(II) (Mohr´s salt).