Abstract
The feasibility of using nanosized zero-valent iron immobilized on the surface of titanate nanotubes to decompose both chlorinated hydrocarbons and phenol simultaneously was investigated in this study. Titanate nanotube was successfully synthesized by the hydrothermal method. BET analysis showed that the specific surface area was higher than 350 m 2 /g. TEM and SEM analysis was also conducted to characterize the surface property of titanate nanotubes. The isothermal adsorption of ferrous ion by synthesized titanate nanotubes followed Langmuirian type. The sorbed ferrous ion can be reduced to nanosized zero-valent iron by adding sodium boron hydride. The iron species can be detected by EDX and XPS spectra. Carbon tetrachloride (CT) was found to be completely degraded by nanoscale zero-valent iron on the surface of titanate nanotubes. After illumination of the TiO 2 -Fe suspension with UV light, both phenol and CT were degraded, showing that the combination of zero-valent iron and TiO 2 can degrade mixed contaminants simultaneously.