Iron–Copper Bimetallic Nanoparticle for the Removal of Disinfection By-products: Optimization, Kinetic Study, and Life Cycle Assessment

Since the early twentieth century, disinfecting water has been an essential process to prevent the introduction of harmful organisms, especially pathogenic organisms. Due to the reaction between anthropogenic contaminants present in water and the chemicals used to disinfect water, compounds known as disinfection by-products (DBPs) are formed during the water disinfection process. Chlorination, the most dominant water disinfection method, produces DBPs that have drawn a lot of attention and health concerns. The most commonly used removal technology for trichloromethane (TCM) is adsorption, and the use of activated carbon, iron oxides, and nanoparticles has been widely investigated. Studies have found that using nano-zero valent iron with nano-catalytic metals (Cu, Ni etc.) to synthesize bimetallic nanoparticles increases the removal of organic pollutants. The current study investigates the adsorption of trichloromethane (TCM) by synthesized Fe/Cu bimetallic nanoparticles. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the effect of independent variables on the removal of TCM. According to the CCD results, TCM concentration and reaction time were determined as the most effective parameters. The lowest TCM concentrations have low removal efficiencies, while the lowest TCM concentration (50 µg/L) can be removed up to 60%. The highest TCM concentration can be 500 µg/L to achieve a removal below the limits with 500 mg/L Fe/Cu concentration and 24 min of reaction time. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to Fe/Cu nanoparticle synthesis, and results indicated that the highest environmental impact was from the mixture of reactant stage.