A Mechanistic Understanding of Hydrogen Peroxide Decomposition

35 mins ago - TThe interaction of naturally occurring minerals with H2O2 affects the remediation efficiency of polluted sites in in-situ chemical oxid...
1 downloads 19 Views 2MB Size
Subscriber access provided by Thompson Rivers University | Library

Article

A Mechanistic Understanding of Hydrogen Peroxide Decomposition by Vanadium Minerals for Diethyl Phthalate Degradation Guodong Fang, Yamei Deng, Min Huang, Dionysios D. Dionysiou, Cun Liu, and Dong-Mei Zhou Environ. Sci. Technol., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b05303 • Publication Date (Web): 29 Jan 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on January 29, 2018

Just Accepted “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. They are posted online prior to technical editing, formatting for publication and author proofing. The American Chemical Society provides “Just Accepted” as a free service to the research community to expedite the dissemination of scientific material as soon as possible after acceptance. “Just Accepted” manuscripts appear in full in PDF format accompanied by an HTML abstract. “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been fully peer reviewed, but should not be considered the official version of record. They are accessible to all readers and citable by the Digital Object Identifier (DOI®). “Just Accepted” is an optional service offered to authors. Therefore, the “Just Accepted” Web site may not include all articles that will be published in the journal. After a manuscript is technically edited and formatted, it will be removed from the “Just Accepted” Web site and published as an ASAP article. Note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the manuscript text and/or graphics which could affect content, and all legal disclaimers and ethical guidelines that apply to the journal pertain. ACS cannot be held responsible for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in these “Just Accepted” manuscripts.

Environmental Science & Technology is published by the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036 Published by American Chemical Society. Copyright © American Chemical Society. However, no copyright claim is made to original U.S. Government works, or works produced by employees of any Commonwealth realm Crown government in the course of their duties.

Page 1 of 28

Environmental Science & Technology

1

A Mechanistic Understanding of Hydrogen Peroxide

2

Decomposition by Vanadium Minerals for Diethyl Phthalate

3

Degradation

4 5

Guodong Fanga, Yamei Denga, Min Huanga, Dionysios D. Dionysioub, Cun Liua, *,

6

Dongmei Zhoua,*

7

a

Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, P.R. China

8

9

b

Environmental Engineering and Science Program, Department of Chemical and

10

Environmental Engineering (ChEE), University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-

11

0071, USA

12

13

*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 25 86881180; fax: +86 25 86881180.

14

E-mail address: [email protected] (C. Liu)

15

[email protected] (D.M. Zhou).

16

17

18

19

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

20

Abstract

21

The interaction of naturally occurring minerals with H2O2 affects the remediation

22

efficiency of polluted sites in in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) treatments. However,

23

interactions between vanadium (V) minerals and H2O2 have rarely been explored. In this

24

study, H2O2 decomposition by various vanadium-containing minerals including V(III),

25

V(IV) and V(V) oxides was examined and the mechanism of hydroxyl radicals (•OH)

26

generation for contaminant degradation was studied. Vanadium minerals were found to

27

catalyze H2O2 decomposition efficiently to produce •OH for diethyl phthalate (DEP)

28

degradation in both aqueous solutions with a wide pH range and in soil slurry. Electron

29

paramagnetic resonance (EPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray

30

diffraction (XRD) analyses and free radical quenching studies suggested that •OH was

31

produced via single electron transfer from V(III)/V(IV) to H2O2 followed a Fenton-like

32

pathway on the surface of V2O3 and VO2 particles, while the oxygen vacancy (OV) was

33

mainly responsible for •OH formation on the surface of V2O5 particles. This study

34

provides a new insight into the mechanism of interactions between vanadium minerals

35

and H2O2 during H2O2-based ISCO.

36

TOC Art

37

38

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 2 of 28

Page 3 of 28

Environmental Science & Technology

39

Introduction

40

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-based in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) has been

41

frequently used for the remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater.1-4 In this

42

practice, when H2O2 solution is directly injected to soil, it undergoes decomposition by

43

natural occurring minerals to produce hydroxyl radical (•OH), a strong reactive species

44

and capable of degrading a variety of pollutants.5-8 Consequently, minerals-based Fenton-

45

like reactions are fundamental processes of ISCO and have been studied extensively; 9-13

46

such reactions can overcome some problems of homogenous Fenton reactions in the

47

degradation of contaminants. 14-17 The kinetics and reaction mechanisms of some Fe and

48

Mn-containing minerals, such as goethite, hematite, ferrihydrite, and iron-containing

49

montmorillonite, to catalyze H2O2 decomposition have been well established.10 However,

50

the decomposition of H2O2 by other soil abundant metal oxides, such as vanadium

51

minerals, are rarely explored.

52

As an important transition metal, vanadium (V) is a ubiquitous element in soil, with

53

concentrations ranging from 0 to 400 mg/kg worldwide.18, 19 Increasing industrial demand

54

for V has led to a rapid increase in V concentration in soil due to leaching from sources

55

such as petroleum coke and emissions from fossil fuel combustion.20 ,21 V(IV) and V(V)

56

are the dominant V species present in soil and most biological systems, and can be

57

converted into V(III) under a reducing environment. 22, 23 Owing to these multiple

58

oxidation states, V is widely used as a homogeneous and heterogeneous (supported)

59

catalyst for the oxidation of alkanes and allylic alcohols, and oxidative bromination or

60

sulfoxidation of organic compounds in the presence of alkyl hydroperoxides, H2O2, or

61

O2.24–26 However, these reactions were conducted homogeneously in acetonitrile solution,

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

62

while the catalytic decomposition of H2O2 by V minerals for contaminant degradation has

63

not been reported so far. Furthermore, similar to the cycles of Fe(II)/Fe(III) (0.77 V) in

64

the Fe-mineral/H2O2 system,10 the cycles of V(IV)/V(V) by H2O2 would be

65

thermodynamic feasible due to their similar reduction potential (0.99 V).

66

Therefore, this study aimed to (i) explore the underlying mechanism of H2O2

67

decomposition by V minerals, and (ii) elucidate the pathways of •OH formation for

68

contaminant degradation in the V/ H2O2 system. Diethyl phthalate (DEP) was chosen as a

69

model pollutant because it is a typical phthalic acid ester (PAE) which is in the priority

70

pollutant list of US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and is frequently

71

detected in soil and water.27 V2O3, VO2, and V2O5 particles were selected as model V

72

minerals for elucidating the mechanism of the V-based Fenton-like process instead of

73

naturally occurring V minerals because the latter, such as vanadinite, bravoite, and

74

davidite, usually contain other transition metals, making it difficult to distinguish the role

75

of V in H2O2 decomposition.28 Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and electron

76

paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis were used to determine the detailed mechanism

77

of DEP degradation and •OH formation in these processes.

78

Materials and Methods

79

Materials Chemicals used in this study and V mineral characterizations and related

80

descriptions are presented in the Supporting Information (SI, Text S1). V mineral was

81

characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS),

82

and EPR (Text S2).

83

Experimental design All degradation experiments were carried out in the dark using a

84

250-mL brown flask sealed with a plug and shielded by aluminum foil at 25 °C on an

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 4 of 28

Page 5 of 28

Environmental Science & Technology

85

orbital shaker (120 rpm). The reaction solution pH was adjusted to desired values using

86

concentrated NaOH and H2SO4 without buffer. The pH was monitored during the

87

reaction, and adjusted to the initial pH when changes of more than 0.1 pH unit by an

88

automatic pH control system used in our previous study.29 Briefly, the system consisted

89

of automatic pH control equipment (CD-10, China), a peristaltic pump (HL-2, China),

90

and a pH electrode (E201-C, China), NaOH or H2SO4 was automatically added when pH

91

changed. All experiments were performed in triplicate to obtain average values with

92

standard deviation.

93

DEP degradation in aqueous solutions: Different amounts of V-mineral particles were

94

added into a reaction solution (147 mL) containing DEP at pH 5.0. After mixing

95

thoroughly, H2O2 solution (3 mL, 100 mM) was added to initiate the reaction. The final

96

concentrations of DEP and H2O2 were 25 mg/L and 2.0 mM, respectively. Control

97

experiments were also carried out using only V mineral particles or H2O2 under the

98

identical conditions. Periodically, the reaction suspensions were filtered through a 0.22-

99

µm PTFE membrane after adding quencher (ethanol) for HPLC analysis (Agilent 1200,

100

USA). To determine DEP degradation intermediates, the reaction suspension was

101

extracted with dichloromethane, derivatized with N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)

102

trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA)/trimethyl -chlorosilane (TMCS), and then analyzed by GC-

103

MS (GC Varian CP3800/MS Saturn2200, USA). The H2O2 concentration was analyzed

104

spectrophotometrically using the titanium sulfate method .12 V mineral particles were

105

collected after reaction by freeze-drying and then analyzed using XRD, XPS, and EPR.

106

DEP degradation in the soil slurry: To test the possibility that V mineral decomposed

107

H2O2 for contaminant degradation in the realistic soil environment, we examined the

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

108

effect of soil particles on DEP degradation in a heterogeneous soil-V2O3/H2O2 system.

109

The properties of soil used in these experiments are described in the SI. To eliminate the

110

effects of organic matter on H2O2 and •OH consumption, soil particles were first treated

111

with H2O2 (30%) to remove organic matter.30 Environmentally relevant concentrations

112

for DEP (60 mg/L), H2O2 (5.0 mM) and V2O3 (0.2 g/L) were chose in current study

113

according to the concentration ranges that were commonly found in the actual

114

contaminated soils and regular H2O2-based ISCO practices as reported in the previous

115

studies.18, 31, 32 Soil particle loadings were 100, 200 and 500 g/L to examine the various

116

soil to water ratios.

117

EPR experiments: Hydroxyl radical formation in the V/H2O2 suspension was determined

118

using the EPR method coupled with 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrrolidine N-oxide (DMPO) as a

119

spin-trapping agent. Briefly, the reaction suspension (V/H2O2) containing DMPO (0.1 M)

120

was added to a quartz tube and determined by EPR (EMX 10/12, Bruker, Germany). EPR

121

experiments were performed at room temperature, and parameters of EPR analysis for

122

both aqueous and solid free radicals as well other analysis are presented in Text S3. The

123

other analysis methods and DFT calculations used in this study are presented in Text S4.

124

Results and Discussion

125

Catalytic decomposition of H2O2 by V2O3 for DEP degradation

126

Kinetics of DEP degradation in the V2O3/H2O2 system DEP degradation in the V2O3/

127

H2O2 system as a function of H2O2 concentration was examined. Figure 1a shows that

128

54.8% of DEP (25 mg/L) was degraded by 1.0 mM H2O2 in the presence of 0.1 g/L V2O3

129

at pH 5.0 within 240 min, while a negligible amount of DEP was degraded with H2O2 or

130

V2O3 alone. By doubling H2O2 concentration to 2.0 mM, the DEP degradation efficiency

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 6 of 28

Page 7 of 28

Environmental Science & Technology

131

increased to 64.0%, but decreased to 47.0% when the H2O2 concentration was further

132

increased to 10 mM. The pseudo-first-order rate constants (kobs) of DEP degradation

133

within 60 min were 0.0126 min–1 and 0.0117 min–1 for 1.0 mM and 2.0 mM H2O2,

134

respectively, but decreased gradually to 0.0084 min–1 and 0.0054 min–1 when further

135

increasing the H2O2 concentration to 5.0 and 10 mM (Figure S1a).

136

Moreover, DEP was mainly degraded within 120 min, with 62.1% and 58.2% DEP

137

degradation observed with 2.0 and 5.0 mM H2O2, respectively. Using 1.0 mM H2O2, DEP

138

degradation occurred within 60 min, and then changed slightly when the reaction time

139

was extended to 240 min, which was probably due to the rapid decomposition of H2O2

140

within 60 min. Figure S1b shows that 1.0 and 2.0 mM H2O2 were almost completely

141

decomposed by V2O3 within 60 and 120 min, respectively. However, the H2O2

142

decomposition with initial concentrations at 5.0 and 10 mM, reached only up to 58.3%

143

and 46.1%, respectively within 240 min. This behavior together was ascribed to the

144

reaction between H2O2 and •OH to produce less reactive HOO• radical which was

145

enhanced by excess of H2O2. This indicated that V2O3 activated H2O2 efficiently for DEP

146

degradation, and that the rate of DEP degradation was H2O2-concentration dependent.

147

Figure S2a shows that DEP was rapidly degraded by H2O2 (5.0 mM) with varied V2O3

148

loadings, and that the DEP degradation efficiency increased from 22.5% to 99.6%, and

149

the corresponding kobs increased from 0.0045 to 0.0655 min–1 when V2O3 loading

150

increased from 0.05 to 1.0 g/L (Figure S2b). In contrast, it was observed that only 6.3%

151

of DEP (25 mg/L in total) was adsorbed by 1.0 g/L V2O3 in the absence of H2O2 (data not

152

shown). The combined results shown in Figures 1 and S2 suggested that the rate of DEP

153

degradation was H2O2– and V2O3–concentration dependent, and not in direct proportion,

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

154

and the optimum molar ratio of H2O2 and V2O3 was determined to be 1:0.6 in the

155

degradation of 0.11 mM of DEP. Furthermore, changes in the total organic carbon (TOC)

156

were monitored to evaluate the mineralization efficiency of DEP. As shown in Figure 1b,

157

the TOC decreased markedly from 15.4 to 10.5 mgcarbon/L when increasing the V2O3

158

loading from 0.05 to 1.0 g/L. The corresponding TOC removal increased from 3.1% to

159

34.3% in the V2O3/H2O2 reaction suspension, while the TOC did not change in the

160

reaction with DEP/H2O2 without V2O3. These results suggested that increasing the V2O3

161

loading favored DEP degradation and mineralization in the V2O3/H2O2 system.

162

GC-MS analysis of intermediates was conducted and the details are described in SI

163

(Text S5, Figure S3). Briefly, the changes in the concentrations of the major

164

intermediates, including MEP, PA, and m-OH-DEP followed a similar pattern with a

165

marked increase within 60 min, and a swift decrease when the reaction extended to 240

166

min (Figure 1c). These results were attributed to the accumulation of intermediates due to

167

the initially rapid DEP degradation within 60 min (Figure 1a), and the delayed direct

168

degradation of intermediates themselves after DEP was depleted. Furthermore, the mass

169

balance of the total amount of products formed versus the amount of DEP degraded

170

showed that the rate decreased from 81% to 11.2% by increasing the reaction time from

171

30 to 240 min, which together with TOC analysis indicated that other ring-opening

172

products were produced and further oxidized to CO2 and H2O (Figure 1b). In addition,

173

the GC-MS analysis results were combined with quantum chemical calculations to

174

identify the likely pathways of DEP degradation by •OH and the detailed discussion is

175

presented in SI (Table S1, Text S5, Figures S3-S7).

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 8 of 28

Page 9 of 28

Environmental Science & Technology

176

Identification of dominant reactive species in the V2O3/H2O2 system: Free radical

177

quenching studies with ethanol as a quencher of •OH were used to identify the dominant

178

reactive species for DEP degradation. Figure S8a shows that the addition of ethanol (200

179

mM) completely inhibited DEP degradation by 0.2 g/L V2O3 and 5.0 mM H2O2,

180

suggesting that •OH was the dominant radical responsible for DEP degradation in the

181

V2O3/H2O2 system. EPR coupled with spin trapping agent DMPO was used to further

182

determine the types of free radical produced at different H2O2 concentrations and V2O3

183

loadings. Figure 2a shows that a significant EPR signal containing four lines with

184

intensity ratios of 1:2:2:1 was formed in the V2O3/H2O2 suspension, while insignificant

185

signal was found in V2O3 suspension or H2O2 solution. The EPR signal was attributed to

186

DMPO-OH adducts with hyperfine splitting constants of aN = aH = 14.9 G, in accordance

187

with a previous study,33-35 suggesting •OH formation in V2O3/H2O2. Additionally,

188

DMPO-OH peak intensity increased gradually from 0.7 to 16.1 (104 a.u.) with increasing

189

V2O3 dosage from 0.05 g/L to 1.0 g/L, which indicated that the •OH concentration

190

increased by larger V2O3 loadings (Figure 2b). EPR spectra of the V2O3/H2O2 system

191

with different H2O2 concentrations showed a decrease in DMPO-OH peak intensity from

192

3.6 to 2.1 (104 a.u.) with increasing H2O2 concentration from 1.0 to 10 mM (Figures S8b

193

and 8c). This indicated that excess H2O2 scavenged some of the •OH, which inhibited the

194

trapping reaction between DMPO and •OH.

195

Effects of pH on DEP degradation in the V2O3/H2O2 system

196

Figure 3a shows that the DEP degradation efficiency decreased from 70.1% to 56.4%

197

when increasing the pH from 3.0 to 9.0, and the corresponding kobs decreased from

198

0.0165 to 0.0101 min–1, which showed that V2O3/H2O2 can degrade DEP effectively over

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

199

a wide pH range, although the rate of DEP degradation decreased with increasing

200

reaction pH (Figure S9a). The concentration of V ion released from V2O3/H2O2 during

201

DEP degradation was also examined. Figure S9b shows that the concentration of

202

dissolved V ions from V2O3 during the reactions increased from 0.98 to 5.73 mg/L when

203

the V2O3 loading was increased from 0.05 to 1.0 g/L in the presence of 2.0 mM H2O2 at

204

pH 5.0 for 240 min. However, the corresponding ratio of V dissolution ([V]dissolved/

205

[V]total×100%) decreased from 2.87% to 0.84%, suggesting that increasing V2O3 loading

206

markedly reduced the rate of V ion dissolution. Figure 3b shows that the V ion

207

concentration decreased from 3.12 to 0.13 mg/L when increasing the pH from 3.0 to 9.0

208

(V2O3, 0.1 g/L), which indicated that the V ion dissolution was greatly reduced with

209

increasing reaction pH in the V2O3/H2O2 system.

210

Furthermore, it was observed that V(IV) was the dominant dissolved V species, with

211

its concentration increasing from 0.62 to 4.64 mg/L as the V2O3 loading was increased

212

from 0.05 to 1.0 g/L, which was markedly higher than the V(V) concentration (0.17 to

213

0.49 mg/L) (Figure S9c). To further test the contribution of V(IV) ions to DEP

214

degradation via homogeneous Fenton-like reactions, DEP degradation in the V(IV)/H2O2

215

solution system was examined. The concentration of V(IV) used in this experiment

216

ranged from 0.01 to 0.1 mM, which was identical to the concentration range of V(IV)

217

dissolved from V2O3/H2O2. Figure S10 shows that less than 15% of DEP (25 mg/L) was

218

degraded by 5.0 mM H2O2 in the presence of different V(IV) ion concentrations (0.01–

219

0.1 mM), indicating that the homogenous Fenton reaction made a limited contribution to

220

DEP degradation in the V2O3/H2O2 system.

221

Catalytic decomposition of H2O2 by VO2 and V2O5 for DEP degradation

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 10 of 28

Page 11 of 28

222

Environmental Science & Technology

As described above, the V2O3/H2O2 system was validated for efficient degradation of

223

contaminant, however, V(V) and V(IV) are usually the dominant V species in soil.19

224

Therefore, the catalytic decomposition of H2O2 by VO2 and V2O5 for DEP degradation

225

were also examined. As shown in Figure S11, 48.8% and 54.1% of DEP was degraded by

226

0.5 g/L VO2 in the presence of 1.0 and 2.0 mM H2O2, respectively, with the

227

corresponding kobs increasing from 0.0033 to 0.0047 min–1 (Figure S11c). EPR results

228

showed a strong DMPO-OH signal observed in the VO2/H2O2 system and the peak

229

intensity gradually decreased as the H2O2 concentration increased from 0.5 to 10 mM,

230

indicating that •OH was formed, but rapidly consumed by excess H2O2. The change in

231

DMPO-OH intensity was consistent with DEP degradation kinetics (Figure S11d).

232

Similar results were observed in the V2O5/H2O2 system. V2O5 can also catalyze the

233

decomposition of H2O2 to form •OH and degrade DEP with higher efficiency (Figure

234

S12).

235

To further evaluate the efficiency of V mineral for catalytically decomposing H2O2,

236

H2O2 (2.0 mM) decomposition rates by V2O3, VO2 and V2O5 (0.1 g/L) at pH 7.0 (50 mM

237

borate buffer) were examined and the comparison was made with decomposition rates of

238

H2O2 by Fe minerals reported in previous studies.12, 15 Figure S13 shows that H2O2 were

239

decomposed efficiently by various V minerals. The rates of H2O2 decomposition (kd, H2O2)

240

were 1.41, 0.2 and 0.07 h-1 for V2O3, VO2 and V2O5, respectively. Surface area is an

241

important factor that influences heterogeneous H2O2 decomposition,15 and thus kd, H2O2

242

was normalized to the surface area of minerals in the reaction suspension, and denoted as

243

kSA. Table S3 displays the kSA values of V minerals in this study and Fe minerals

244

collected from previous studies.12, 15 The results suggest that kSA of V2O3 was 3–4 orders

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

Page 12 of 28

245

of magnitude larger than that of Fe minerals. For the soil dominant V species such as

246

VO2 and V2O5, their kSA values were 136.5–2087, 9.8–150.5 times larger than those of Fe

247

oxides such as goethite, hematite and FeOOH, respectively. These results suggest that V

248

minerals were more efficient than Fe minerals in catalyzing H2O2 decomposition.

249

Proposed •OH formation pathways in the V/H2O2 system

250

Mechanism of H2O2 activation by V2O3 and VO2 particles: Similar to the Fe-mineral

251

based Fenton-like process ,10 it was hypothesized that single electron transfer from

252

surface V(III)( ≡V(III)) or V(IV) (≡V(IV)) to H2O2 was the dominant process for •OH

253

generation (Eq. 1 and 2), and a chain reaction can be propagated as V(III) or V(IV) can

254

be regenerated by H2O2 (Eq. 3 and 4).

255

≡ V(III) + H 2 O 2 →≡ V(IV)+ • OH + - OH

(1)

256

≡ V(IV) + H 2 O 2 →≡ V(V)+ •OH + - OH

(2)

257

≡ V(IV) + H 2 O 2 →≡ V(III)+ HO•2

(3)

≡ V(V) + H 2 O 2 →≡ V(IV)+ HO•2

(4)

258 259

To clarify these processes, XPS, XRD, and EPR techniques were used to characterize

260

V-oxides before and after reaction in the V/H2O2 system. Figure S14 shows phase

261

transformations in the V minerals before and after reaction. For V2O3, only the V2O3

262

phase was observed before the reaction, but a new V6O13 phase, which was a mixture of

263

V(IV) and V(V) minerals, appeared after the reaction with H2O2, indicating that V(III)

264

transferred electrons to H2O2 to produce V(IV) and V(V) (Eq.1 and 2). Similarly, V6O13

265

was formed by VO2 after the reaction, which suggested that V6O13 was the dominant

266

mineral formed in the reaction of V2O3 or VO2 with H2O2.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 13 of 28

Environmental Science & Technology

267

XPS analysis showed that V(IV) and V(V) were the dominant V species on the V2O3

268

surface before reaction, which was ascribed to the partial oxidation of V(III) by oxygen

269

(Figure S15). After reacting with H2O2, the ratio of V(IV) decreased from 22.2% to

270

15.4%, while the ratio of V(V) increased from 77.8% to 84.6% (Table S2). Similarly,

271

V(IV) and V(V) were the dominant V species on the VO2 surface, with the ratio of V(IV)

272

decreasing after the reaction with H2O2. These results further indicated that electron

273

transfer from surface V(III)/V(IV) to H2O2 was the dominant process in H2O2 activation,

274

which was consistent with XRD results. EPR analysis showed an eight-component

275

hyperfine structure for both VO2 and V2O3 bulk particles, which was characteristic of a

276

V(IV) center ion, according to a previous study (Figure S16).36 Moreover, the peak

277

intensities of V(IV) increased for V2O3, but decreased for VO2 after the reaction, which

278

further confirmed electron transfer from V(III) and V(IV) to H2O2 during the reaction and

279

was consistent with XRD and XPS results.

280

Mechanism of H2O2 activation by V2O5 particles: Catalytic decomposition of H2O2 by

281

V2O5 has been proposed to exhibit a similar mechanism to other Fenton-like processes,15

282

with V(IV) regenerated on V2O5 surface (Eq. 4) activating H2O2 to produce •OH. XRD

283

results showed that the V2O5 phase changed slightly before and after the reaction,

284

suggesting that V2O5 was a stable catalyst toward H2O2 activation for DEP degradation.

285

However, interestingly, 7.5% V(IV) was formed on the surface of V2O5 particles before

286

the reaction according to XPS analysis (Table S2). This behavior was due to vanadyl

287

oxygen being easily desorbed from the V2O5 lattice during V2O5 particle synthesis, which

288

resulted in the formation of oxygen vacancies and V(IV) center ions.37 As each oxygen

289

vacancy can leave an electron at the vanadium ion site, reducing V(V) to V(IV),38 both

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

290

oxygen vacancies (OVs) and related V(IV) species play an important role in the catalytic

291

activity of V2O5 particles. Furthermore, an OV is generally considered a basic defect in

292

the V2O5 lattice and, as such, defects usually contain an unpaired electron and can be

293

detected by EPR. However, V(IV) has a wide range of EPR signals (3200–3700 G)

294

overlapping with the OV EPR signal at 3400 G. Consequently, the existence of OV was

295

not detected by EPR in current study. To determine the role of V(IV) regeneration on the particle surface in H2O2 activation,

296 297

the kobs of DEP degradation was normalized to V2O5 and VO2 loadings, giving

298

normalized values of 0.02 and 0.009 min–1·L g-1, respectively. Unexpectedly, the results

299

indicated the V2O5 was more efficient than VO2 toward H2O2 activation for DEP

300

degradation. Theoretically, the catalytic ability of VO2 should be significantly higher than

301

that of V2O5, because VO2 contains more V(IV) and easily transfers electrons to H2O2.

302

However, XPS and EPR analysis showed that the content of V(IV) on the V2O5 surface

303

and in bulk V2O5 particles was increased instead of decreased due to the consumption by

304

H2O2. These combined experimental results showed that the catalytic decomposition of

305

H2O2 by the regenerated V(IV) on the surface of V2O5 was not the only factor controlling

306



OH formation for DEP degradation.

307

OVs have been reported to play an important role in •OH formation in other systems,

308

such as BiOCl and CeO2 nanoparticle-based Fenton-like processes.39, 40 Therefore, it was

309

hypothesized that electron transfer from the OV to H2O2, producing bound-OH, was

310

another important source of •OH for DEP degradation. To verify OV-induced •OH

311

formation on the V2O5 surface, we added F– to the V2O5/H2O2 suspension to desorb OV-

312

bound •OH into solution.41 Figure 4a shows that the addition of F– significantly enhanced

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 14 of 28

Page 15 of 28

Environmental Science & Technology

313

the DMPO-OH EPR signal in the V2O5/H2O2 system, with the peak intensities increasing

314

2.3-fold, which suggested significant amount of surface-bound •OH was released into

315

solution. In contrast, the peak intensities of DMPO-OH were only increased by about 30%

316

in the VO2/H2O2 system with F–, suggesting that surface-bound OH accounted for only a

317

small proportion of total •OH on VO2 surface (Figure S17). These results indicated that

318

surface-bound OH produced from ≡V(IV) (bound metal) and H2O2 was easily trapped by

319

DMPO, leading to a significant EPR signal in aqueous solution. However, OV-bound

320



321

not be desorbed into aqueous solution or even trapped by DMPO, suggesting that OV-

322

bound-OH was the dominant radical species in the V2O5/H2O2 system.

323

OH formed from OV and H2O2 was bound so strongly to the V2O5 surface that it could

V2O5 single crystals or nanoparticles usually contain a large amount of OVs that can be

324

detected by EPR.42 To further testify the role of OVs in H2O2 activation, V2O5

325

nanoparticles (V2O5-N) were synthesized. XRD and TEM analysis showed that the

326

prepared V2O5 particles were crystalline with average diameter of 90 nm (Figure S17).

327

EPR results showed a strong singlet peak for V2O5-N, which was characteristic of an OV

328

with a g-factor of 2.0031, and confirmed that OVs were formed on the V2O5-N surface

329

(Figure 4b). Meanwhile, the EPR signal for V(IV) was also observed, although its peak

330

intensity was relatively low, which suggested that V(IV) formation was accompanied by

331

OV production (Figure S18). Furthermore, the OV peak intensities decreased markedly in

332

the presence of H2O2, decreasing by 32.1% when increasing the H2O2 concentration to 10

333

mM within 60 min. Formation of a DMPO-OH signal was also observed, with its peak

334

intensities increasing 7.43-fold in the presence of F– (Figure 4c), which was significantly

335

higher (2.3-fold) than that of the purchased micrometer sized V2O5 particles used in

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

336

current study. These results indicated that accompanied by OVs disappeared, electron

337

was transferred from OV sites to H2O2, and confirmed that OVs played a key role in the

338

formation of surface-bound OH in the V2O5/H2O2 system.

339

Proposed framework for H2O2 decomposition and •OH formation in the V/H2O2 system

340

According to the results above, the mechanism of catalytic decomposition of H2O2 with

341

different V minerals is discussed. The pathways of •OH formation in the V/H2O2 system

342

are proposed in Figure 5. For V2O3 and VO2 particles, single-electron transfer from

343

≡V(III)/≡V(IV) to H2O2 produces •OH on the particle surface, and the formed ≡V(V) is

344

further reduced by H2O2 to regenerate ≡V(IV). The cycle of V(IV)/V(V) by H2O2 (Eq. 4)

345

is thermodynamic feasible due to the relatively high potential (0.99 V), which was easier

346

than Fe(II)/Fe(II) cycled by H2O2 as verified in the previous study.10 However, for V2O5,

347

the OV on the particle surface transfers an electron to H2O2, inducing the formation of

348

OV-bound •OH, which was a dominant species for contaminant degradation.

349

Decomposition of H2O2 by V2O3 for DEP degradation in soil slurry

350

Because V minerals are ubiquitously distributed in soil environments in considerable

351

concentration; it is anticipated they can decompose H2O2 for contaminant degradation in

352

the soil. To test this hypothesis, the effect of soil particles on the degradation of DEP in

353

the soil-V2O3/H2O2 system was examined. Figure 6a shows that DEP degradation was

354

inhibited in the presence of soil particles, and its degradation efficiency decreased from

355

60.1% to 44.8% in V2O3/H2O2 with 100 g/L of soil particles. When increasing soil

356

particle loading from 100 to 500 g/L (soil/water ratio, 1:2), the DEP degradation

357

efficiency decreased from 44.8% to 24.2%. Adsorption on soil particles contributed to

358

less than 10% of DEP loss in the solution phase. Figure 6b shows that the concentration

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 16 of 28

Page 17 of 28

Environmental Science & Technology

359

of V ion dissolution from V2O3 decreased dramatically in the presence of soil particles.

360

The V ion concentration decreased from 2.7 to 0.2 mg/L when increasing the soil particle

361

loading from 0 to 200 g/L, and decreased below the detection limit when the soil particle

362

loading was further increased to 500 g/L, suggesting that the V ion leaching was greatly

363

reduced by soil particles. The reduction of V ion concentration in the solution was

364

attributed to the strong adsorption of V ion by Fe oxides or clay minerals in the soil. This

365

would result in the formation new V minerals on the surface of soil particles.19 These

366

results together suggest that DEP was efficiently degraded in the soil slurry, although its

367

degradation rates were noticeably reduced. More importantly, the adsorption of V ion by

368

soil particles, and subsequently formation of new V minerals would greatly reduce the

369

potential risk of V ion leaching to ground and surface water.

370

Environmental Implications Despite the fact that geochemical parameters, such as

371

minerals and humic substances in the subsurface environment, have important effects on

372

the efficiency of soil and groundwater remediation by H2O2-ISCO processes, interactions

373

between the soil abundant vanadium minerals and H2O2 have rarely been investigated.

374

This study provides a detailed mechanism of H2O2 decomposition and •OH formation in

375

the V/H2O2 system. In V2O3 and VO2-based Fenton-like processes, •OH was produced

376

via single electron transfer from V(III)/V(IV) to H2O2. However, in the V2O5/H2O2

377

system, OVs played an important role in •OH formation, with transfer of an OV electron

378

to H2O2 yielding OV-bound •OH. This process was testified by reacting the synthesized

379

OV-rich V2O5 nanoparticles with H2O2 to further verify the role of OVs, with EPR

380

analysis showing that OV was consumed during the reaction, accompanied by •OH

381

formation. This study provided a new insight into the mechanism of interactions between

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

382

vanadium minerals and H2O2 when using H2O2 for ISCO remediation of contaminated

383

soil and groundwater.

384

Additionally, this study suggested that V mineral can efficiently catalyze the

385

decomposition of H2O2 for contaminant degradation under environmentally relevant

386

concentration. For example, the soil slurry experiments were conducted with 0.2 g/L

387

V2O3 (127 mg/kg V in soil), which was in the range of V background content (0-400

388

g/kg18). Hence, H2O2 may be decomposed by V minerals naturally for contaminant

389

degradation in the H2O2-based ISCO process. Particularly for soil near vanadium

390

titanomagnetite mining sites, the V concentration is usually high (∼940 mg/kg in the

391

Panzhihua region of China), and coexists with other organic contaminants .21 Therefore,

392

these organic contaminants are degraded by adding H2O2 without adding other catalysts.

393

Supporting Information Available: XRD, XPS and EPR analysis of vanadium minerals

394

before and after reaction, DFT calculations and detailed discussion on the pathways of

395

DEP degradation can be found in this section (Text S1-S5, Tables S1-3, and Figures S1-

396

18). This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org/.

397

Acknowledgments This work was supported by grants from the National Key Research

398

and Development Program of China (2017YFA0207001, 2016YFD0800204), the

399

National Natural Science Foundation of China (41671478, 41671239), the Natural

400

Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (BK20170050), the 135 Program of

401

Institute of Soil Science (ISSASIP1660) and Youth Innovation Promotion Association of

402

CAS (2014270).

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 18 of 28

Page 19 of 28

403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447

Environmental Science & Technology

References (1) Petigara, B. R.; Blough, N. V.; Mignerey, A. C. Mechanisms of hydrogen peroxide decomposition in soils. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2002, 36, 639–645. (2) Watts, R. J.; Udell, M. D.; Kong, S. H.; Leung, S. W. Fenton-like soil remediation catalyzed by naturally occurring iron minerals. Environ. Eng. Sci. 1999, 16, 93–103. (3) Bokare, A.D.; Choi, W. Advanced oxidation process based on the Cr(III)/Cr(VI) redox cycle. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011, 45, 9332–9338. (4) Huling, S. G.; Pivetz, B. E. In-situ chemical oxidation. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Engineering Issue. 2006. http://epa.gov/ada/gw/pdfs/insituchemicaloxidation_engineering_issue.pdf (accessed Dec 12, 2011). (5) Pignatello, J. J.; Oliveros, E.; MacKay, A. Advanced oxidation processes for organic contaminant destruction based on the Fenton reaction and related chemistry. Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2006, 36, 1–84. (6) Smith, B. A.; Teel, A. L.; Watts, R. J. Identification of the reactive oxygen species responsible for carbon tetrachloride degradation in modified Fenton’s systems. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2004, 38, 5465–5469. (7) Kwan, W. P.; Voelker, B. M. Decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and organic compounds in the presence of dissolved iron and ferrihydrite. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2002, 36, 1467−1476. (8) Heckert, E.G.; Seal, S.; Self, W. T. Fenton-like reaction catalyzed by the rare earth inner transition metal cerium. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2008, 42, 5014–5019. (9) Watts, R. J.; Finn, D. D.; Cutler, L. M.; Schmidt, J. T.; Teel, A. L. Enhanced stability of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of subsurface solids. J. Contam. Hydrol. 2007, 91, 312−326. (10) Pham, A.L.T.; Doyle, F. M. Sedlak, D. L. Kinetics and efficiency of H2O2 activation by iron-containing minerals and aquifer materials. Water Res. 2012, 46, 6454–6462. (11) Liu, H. Z.; Bruton, T. A.; Doyle, F. M.; Sedlak, D. L. In situ chemical oxidation of contaminated groundwater by persulfate: decomposition by Fe(III)-and Mn(IV)containing oxides and aquifer materials. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 10330−10336. (12) Pham, A. L. T.; Lee, C.; Doyle, F. M.; Sedlak, D. L. A silica supported iron oxide catalyst capable of activating hydrogen peroxide at neutral pH values. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2009, 43, 8930–8935. (13) Wang, L.; Cao, M.; Ai, Z.; Zhang, L. Dramatically enhanced aerobic atrazine degradation with Fe@Fe2O3 core–shell nanowires by tetrapolyphosphate. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 3354–3362. (14) Bokare, A.D.; Choi, W. Review of iron-free Fenton-like systems for activating H2O2 in advanced oxidation processes. J. Hazard. Mater. 2014, 275, 121–135. (15) Pham, A.L.T.; Doyle, F.M.; Sedlak, D.L. Inhibitory effect of dissolved silica on H2O2 decomposition by iron(III) and manganese(IV) Oxides: implications for H2O2-Based in situ chemical oxidation . Environ. Sci. Technol. 2012, 46, 1055−1062. (16) Kim, D.H.; Bokare, A. D.; Koo, M. S.; Choi, W. Heterogeneous catalytic oxidation of As(III) on nonferrous metal oxides in the presence of H2O2. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2015, 49, 3506−3513.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493

(17) Li, X.N.; Jiao, W.T.; Xiao, R.B.; Chen, W.P.; Chang, A.C. Soil pollution and site remediation policies in China: A review. Environ. Rev. 2015, 23, 1–12. (18) Reimann, C.; de Caritat, P. Chemical elements in the environment. Heidelberg: Springer. 1998. (19) Wisawapipat, W.; Kretzschmar, R. Solid phase speciation and solubility of vanadium in highly weathered soils. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2017, 51, 8254–8262. (20) Hope, B.K. An assessment of the global impact of anthropogenic vanadium. Biogeochemistry, 1997, 37, 1–13. (21) Yang, J.; Tang, Y.; Yang, K.; Rouff, A.A.; Elzinga, E.J.; Huang, J.; Leaching characteristics of vanadium in mine tailings and soils near a vanadium titanomagnetite mining site. J. Hazard. Mater. 2014, 264, 498–504. (22) Sutton, S.; Karner, J.; Papike, J.; Delaney, J.; Shearer, C.; Newville, M.; Eng, P.; Rivers, M.; Dyar, M., Vanadium K edge XANES of synthetic and natural basaltic glasses and application to microscale oxygen barometry. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 2005, 69, 2333–2348. (23) Chen, G.D.; Liu, H.Z. Understanding the reduction kinetics of aqueous vanadium(V) and transformation products using rotating ring-disk electrodes. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2017, 51, 11643−11651. (24) Sutradhar, M.; Luísa M.D.R.S.; Guedes da Silva, M.F.C.; Pombeiro, A.J.L. Vanadium complexes: recent progress in oxidation catalysis. Coord. Chem. Rev. 2015, 301−302, 200−239. (25) Kirillova, M.V.; Kuznetsov, M.L.; Romakh, V. B.; Shul’pina, L.S.; Fraústo da Silva, J.J.R.; Pombeiro, A.J.L.; Shul’pin, G.B. Mechanism of oxidations with H2O2 catalyzed by vanadate anion or oxovanadium(V) triethanolaminate (vanadatrane) in combination with pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid (PCA): Kinetic and DFT studies. J. Catal. 2009, 267, 140–157. (26) Shul’pin, G. B.; Kozlov, Y.N.; Nizova, G.V.; Süss-Fink, G.; Stanislas, S.; Kitaygorodskiy, A.; Kulikova, V. S. Oxidations by the reagent “O2–H2O2–vanadium derivative–pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid’. Part 12.1 Main features, kinetics and mechanism of alkane hydroperoxidation. J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 2001, 2, 1351– 1371. (27) Marsee, K.; Woodruff, T. J.; Axelrad, D. A.; Calafat, A. M.; Swan, S. H. Estimated daily phthalate exposures in a population of mothers of male infants exhibiting reduced anogenital distance. Environ. Health Perspect. 2006, 114, 805–809. (28) Imtiaz, M.; Rizwan, M. S.; Xiong, S.L.; Li, H.L.; Ashraf, M.; Shahzad, S.M.; Shahzad, M.; Rizwan, M.; Tu, S.X. Vanadium, recent advancements and research prospects: A review. Environ. Int. 2015, 80, 79–88. (29) Wang, Y.; Zhou, D.M.; Wang, Y.J.; Wang, L.; Cang, L. Automatic pH control system enhances the dechlorination of 2,4,4'-trichlorobiphenyl and extracted PCBs from contaminated soil by nanoscale Fe0 and Pd/Fe0. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 2012, 19, 448–457. (30) Fan, T. T.; Wang, Y. J.; Li, C. B.; Zhou, D. M.; Friedman, S. P. Effects of soil organic matter on sorption of metal ions on soil clay particles. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 2015, 79, 794−802. (31) Zhang, H.G.; Chen, D.Y.; Luo, D.G.; Xie, W.B.; Chu, H.B. Research on phthalic acid esters in soil around municipal solid waste landfill. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2010,

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 20 of 28

Page 21 of 28

494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525

Environmental Science & Technology

33, 176-179. (In Chinese). (32) Romero, A.; Santos, A.; Vicente, F.; Rodriguez, S.; Lafuente, A.L. In situ oxidation remediation technologies: Kinetic of hydrogen peroxide decomposition on soil organic matter. J. Hazard. Mater. 2009, 170, 627–632. (33) Tong, M.; Yuan, S. H.; Ma, S. C.; Jin, M. G.; Liu, D.; Cheng, D.; Liu, X. X.; Gan, Y. Q.; Wang, Y. X. Production of abundant hydroxyl radicals from oxygenation of subsurface sediments. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2016, 50, 214−221. (34) Fang, G. D.; Gao, J.; Liu, C.; Dionysiou, D. D.; Wang, Y.; Zhou, D. M. Key role of persistent free radicals in hydrogen peroxide activation by biochar: implications to organic contaminant degradation. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 1902−1910. (35) Fang, G.D.; Liu, C.; Wang, Y.J.; Dionysiou, D. D.; Zhou, D. M. Photogeneration of reactive oxygen species from biochar suspension for diethyl phthalate degradation. Appl. Catal. B-Environ. 2017, 214, 34–45. (36) Fang, G.D.; Wu, W.H.; Deng, Y.M.; Zhou, D.M. Homogenous activation of persulfate by different species of vanadium ions for PCBs degradation. Chem. Eng. J. 2017, 323, 84–95. (37) Oshio, T.; Sakai, Y.; Ehara, S. Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy study of V2O5 surface with oxygen vacancies. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 1994, 12, 2055–2059. (38) Vanhaelst, M.; Claijws, P. EPR Spectrum of the oxygen vacancy in V2O5. Phys. Stat. Sol B, 1978, 87, 719–723. (39) Li, H.; Shang, J.; Yang, Z.; Shen, W.; Ai, Z.; Zhang, L. Oxygen vacancy associated surface Fenton chemistry: surface structure dependent hydroxyl radicals generation and substrate dependent reactivity. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2017, 51, 5685–5694. (40) Zang, C.; Zhang, X.; Hu, S.; Chen, F. The role of exposed facets in the Fenton-like reactivity of CeO2 nanocrystal to the Orange II. Appl. Catal. B-Environ. 2017, 216, 106–113. (41) Xu, Y.; Lv, K.; Xiong, Z.; Leng, W.; Du, W.; Liu, D.; Xue, X. Rate enhancement and rate inhibition of phenol degradation over irradiated anatase and rutile TiO2 on the addition of NaF: New Insight into the Mechanism. J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 19024−19032. (42) Gillis, E.; Boesnan, E. EPR studies of V2O5 single crystals. Phys. Stat. Sol. 1966, 14, 337-347.

526 527

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

528 529

Page 22 of 28

Figure 1

530

(b)

531

(a) 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539

(c)

540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551

Figure 1 Kinetics of DEP degradation as a function of H2O2 concentration and V2O3 loading in the V2O3/H2O2 system: (a) DEP degradation; (b) changes in TOC and TOC removal during reaction; (c) concentration profiles of DEP degradation intermediates and mass balance of products (2.0 mM H2O2 and 0.1 g/L V2O3). Reaction conditions: V2O3 loading = 0.05–1.0 g/L; [H2O2]0 = 1.0–10 mM; [DEP]0 = 25 mg/L; pH 5.0; and 25 °C.

552 553 554 555

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 23 of 28

556

Environmental Science & Technology

Figure 2

557 558

(a) 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567

(b)

568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577

Figure 2 Identification of reactive species in the V2O3/H2O2 system using EPR methods: (a) EPR spectrum; (b) changes in peak intensities of DMPO-OH signal as a function of V2O3 loadings at 5 min. Reaction conditions: V2O3 loading = 0.05–1.0 g/L; [H2O2]0 = 2.0 mM; [DMPO]0 = 100 mM and pH 5.0.

578 579 580 581

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

582

Figure 3

583 584

(a) 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593

(b) 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602

Figure 3 Effect of pH on DEP degradation and V ion dissolution in the V2O3/H2O2 system: (a) degradation kinetics; (b) concentration of V ion dissolution at various pH values. Reaction conditions: V2O3 loading = 0.1 g/L; [H2O2]0 = 2.0 mM; [DEP]0 = 25 mg/L; and 25 °C for 4 h.

603 604 605 606 607

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 24 of 28

Page 25 of 28

608

Environmental Science & Technology

Figure 4

609 610

(a)

(b)

611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619

(c)

620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632

Figure 4 EPR spectrum of DMPO-OH formed from V/H2O2 in the presence and absence of NaF at 5 min: (a) V2O5/H2O2; (b) EPR spectrum of oxygen vacancies in V2O5 nanoparticles (nano-V2O5) before and after reaction; (c) EPR spectrum of DMPO-OH formed from nano-V2O5/H2O2 (2.0 mM) in the presence and absence of NaF at 5 min. Reaction conditions: V2O5/nano-V2O5 loadings = 0.1 g/L; [H2O2]0 = 2.0–10 mM; [DMPO]0 = 100 mM; [NaF]0 = 2.0 mM, and pH 5.0.

633 634 635

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

636

Figure 5

637 638 639 640

Figure 5 Proposed pathways for H2O2 decomposition and hydroxyl radical generation in the V/H2O2 system.

641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 26 of 28

Page 27 of 28

655

Environmental Science & Technology

Figure 6

656 657

(a)

658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665

(b) 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676

Figure 6 Effect of soil particles on DEP degradation in the V2O3/H2O2 system: (a) DEP degradation kinetics in the soil slurry; (b) concentration of V ion dissolution with different particle loadings. Reaction conditions: V2O3 loading = 0.2 g/L; soil particle loading = 100–500 g/L; [H2O2]0 = 5.0 mM; [DEP]0 = 60 mg/L; pH 5.0; 25 °C; and 4 h.

677

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 28 of 28