Enhanced dechlorination of 2,6-dichlorophenol by carbon nanotubes supported Fe/Ni nanoparticles: Characterization, influencing factors, and kinetics

For the first time, the dechlorination of 2,6-dichlorophenol (2,6-DCP) by carbon nanotubes supported Fe/Ni nanoparticles (CNTs-Fe/Ni) was studied to explore the practicability of environmental remediation. Removal capacity of CNTs-Fe/Ni for 2,6-DCP was enhanced obviously compared to Fe/Ni due to reduced aggregation of Fe/Ni nanoparticles .The removal efficiency increased as the increase of CNTs-Fe/Ni dosage and Ni loading, whereas it decreased as the increase of 2,6-DCP concentration. Weak acidic condition was considered to be advantageous to 2,6-DCP dechlorination. The dechlorination kinetics results suggested that the 2,6-DCP removal by CNTs-Fe/Ni accorded with pseudo-first-order equation. Moreover, carbon nanotubes as support accelerated the mass transfer of 2,6-DCP from solution to catalyst surface and promoted the formation of atomic hydrogen, which also led to an enhancement of reactivity of CNTs-Fe/Ni on removing 2,6-DCP.