Mechanisms of mass transfer enhancement by phase-transfer catalysis for permanganate oxidizing dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) TCE.

Phase transfer catalysts (PTCs) have been shown to be effective in lowering the limitation of mass transfer between aqueous oxidant MnO and NAPLs in in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) technologies for remediation of NAPLs. This work researched the effects of pentyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (PTPP, used as the representative PTC) for the enhancement of TCE oxidation, the extent of different treatment effects contributions and generalizability of phase transfer. Experimental results revealed that MnO exchanged with Br in PTPP by ion exchange mechanism and then transferred to NAPL phase due to biphasic nature of PTPP-MnO. PTPP enhanced TCE dissolution in aqueous phase but had no significant effect on TCE solubilization. Enhanced TCE dissolution gradually weakened after 2.0 h and disappeared after 5.5 h, while the percentage of MnO in phase transfer was 14.8% at 7.5 h, which indicated that dissolution acceleration was only effective at initial stage of reaction (0-2.5 h). Therefore, persistent phase transfer process played the leading role in TCE remediation enhancement. Moreover, for different NAPL phase, more effective phase transfer could be achieved in NAPLs with higher solubility and weaker hydrophobicity. The best-fit polynomial relationship (R = 0.992) existed between the percentage amount of MnO transferred and the solubility of NAPL.

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