Catalytic dechlorination of carbon tetrachloride to combustible hydrocarbons by Pd-Fe hydroxides through atomic hydrogen attack and direct electron transfer

Carbon tetrachloride (CT), a common persistent pollutant in groundwater, has attracted widespread attention from environmental researchers. The dechlorination from CT to combustible hydrocarbons not only represents the removal of contaminants, but also offers the possibility of recovering carbon resources from water. In this work, we used the coprecipitation of Fe(II) and Pd(II) to synthesize Pd-Fe hydroxides for dechlorination of CT. When Pd and Fe dosages were 0.4 and 5 mM respectively, CT with 26 µM concentration can be fast removed within 5 min, and 43.3 % of CH4 and 11.6 % of C2H6 (mol%) were generated after 110 min. The alkaline condition was more conducive to the complete dechlorination of CT comparing with acidic and neutral conditions. During the olation process, Fe(II) as electron donor transferred electrons to Pd(II) to form Pd(0) clusters. Pd(0) active sites act on the binding of CT and transfer electron to H+/H2O to form adsorbed atomic hydrogen (Hads•). The adsorbed CT molecules on the surface of Pd-Fe hydroxides undergo continuous dechlorination to form CH4 and C2H6 through the attack of Hads• and direct electron transfer. In real groundwater applications, CT was rapidly removed, with CH4 and C2H6 yields reaching 24.5 % and 4.6 % (mol%), respectively. Encouragingly, incomplete dechlorinated products, including chloroform and dichloromethane, did not show signs of subsequent rebound even after 60 min. Furthermore, Pd-Fe hydroxides also exhibit resistance to the oxidation effects of dissolved oxygen, which demonstrates the promising application prospects.