Iron phosphomolybdate complexes in electrocatalytic reduction of aqueous disinfection byproducts

Lev Bromberg, Nil Ozbek, Kai Jher Tan, Xiao Su, Lokesh P. Padhye, T. Alan Hatton*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The crystalline iron phosphomolybdate-bipyridylpropane complex (FePM-BPP) synthesized by hydrothermal method in water possesses two [P4Mo6VO31]12− subunits bridged by one Fe center. We discovered that the FePM-BPP complex is an electrocatalyst active at close-to-neutral pH in aqueous electrolytes, catalyzing reduction of a variety of carcinogenic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) such as chloroform, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), and bromate. Deposition of FePM-BPP onto the surface of carbon electrodes led to accelerated chloroform electroreduction at near-neutral pH, at potentials in the −0.52 to −0.27 V vs standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) range, with surface-normalized rate constant of chloroform reduction at ca. 140 L m-2h−1, and over 40% of chloroform reduced at −0.27 V vs SHE after 1 h. The surface-normalized first-order rate constants of the NDMA and bromate electroreduction at − 0.77 V vs SHE and pH 5.5 or 6.4 were estimated to be 250 and 150 L m-2h−1, respectively. The simple synthetic route with low-cost, earth-abundant components, and versatility indicate that FePM-BPP can be considered for incorporation into DBP reduction processes as a heterogeneous catalyst.

Original languageEnglish
Article number127354
JournalChemical Engineering Journal
Volume408
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Mar 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

The authors are thankful to Drs. Charles Settens and Katherine R. Phillips for their help with XRD and XPS spectroscopies, respectively. Comprehensive help from Mrs. Marina Temchenko is gratefully acknowledged. N.O. greatly appreciates the support by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), 2219 International Postdoctoral Research Scholarship Program.

FundersFunder number
TÜBİTAK
Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştirma Kurumu

    Keywords

    • Aqueous disinfection byproducts
    • Crystalline iron phosphomolybdate-bipyridylpropane complex
    • Electrocatalyst
    • Electroreduction

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