Effects of natural water constituents on perchlorate reduction by a heterogeneous Pd/Re catalyst

ENVR 287

Jong Kwon Choe1, Luke Koscielski, lkosci3@uiuc.edu2, Charles J. Werth, werth@uiuc.edu3, Timothy J. Strathmann, strthmnn@uiuc.edu1, and John R. Shapley, shapley@uiuc.edu4. (1) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 205 North Mathews Ave, 61801-2352, Urbana, IL 61801-2352, (2) Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, (3) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Center of Advanced Materials for Purification of Water with Systems, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 3215 Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory, 205 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, (4) Department of Chemistry and Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water with Systems, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 505 S. Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801
Recent surveys show widespread perchlorate contamination of water resources throughout the United States due to improper disposal of perchlorate-containing wastes. This raises serious concerns because perchlorate interferes with iodine uptake by the thyroid gland. Although ion exchange and biological treatment are two major technologies developed for perchlorate removal, these processes have drawbacks that limit their implementation; ion exchange produces spent resin that requires further treatment and use of biological treatment in drinking water is limited by public's resistance. Recently, a new heterogeneous catalyst comprised of Pd and Re on carbon was found to promote the reduction of perchlorate. This discovery has opened the possibility of a non-biological approach for reducing perchlorate in water. This contribution will describe efforts to assess the effects of natural water constituents (e.g., sulfate, sulfide and nitrate) on this catalytic treatment process. The catalyst surface properties will be also evaluated by XPS and chemisorption measurements.
 

Advances in Abiotic Transformation Processes for Micropollutants in Drinking Water and for Sourcewater Protection
6:00 PM-8:00 PM, Wednesday, April 9, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Sci-Mix
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Sci-Mix

Division of Environmental Chemistry

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008