Dechlorination of atrazine using zero-valent iron (Fe0) under neutral pH conditions

Zero-valent iron (Fe0) is frequently used for the dechlorination of pesticides, because it is economical, easily acquired and stable. The kinetics of dechlorination by Fe0 are improved at low pH, but this requires additional acid addition, while dechlorination hardly occurs under basic conditions. Due to the buffer capacity of geological materials such as clay and sediment, however, the addition of acid to obtain a low pH may not be effective. In this research, the dechlorination constants of atrazine by Fe0 were measured with the addition of buffer solution to simulate the buffer capacity of sediment. In the presence of the buffer solution, the pH values remained neutral, while dechlorination occurred more slowly than that observed under acid additions but faster than that without any buffer. When the initial concentrations of atrazine were 10 mg/L, 30 mg/L, and 50 mg/L, its dechlorination was explained using pseudo-first order reaction kinetics. The pseudo-first order constants were 3.01 × 10−2 d−1 at 10 mg/L, 3.23 × 10−2 d−1 at 30 mg/L and 3.38 × 10−2 d−1 at 50 mg/L. In addition, the half-lives of atrazine were 8.91 d at 10 mg/L, 9.32 d at 30 mg/L, and 10.00 d at 50 mg/L. Acid addition may not be omitted to obtain acidic pH conditions when dechlorination is necessary in geologic materials.