Dissertations and Theses
Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Chemistry
First Advisor
Urs Jans
Second Advisor
Barbara Zajc
Third Advisor
Glen Kowach
Keywords
Hematite, adsorbed Fe(II), adsorbed Fe(II) kinetics
Abstract
The reaction of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD), a widely used brominated flame retardant, was studied in a heterogenous mixture containing reactive Fe(II) adsorbed to the iron oxide hematite. The adsorbed Fe(II)/iron oxide system has shown to be a potent reductant in the transformation of organic contaminants with relatively water soluble organic contaminants. There currently aren’t many studies involving hydrophobic organic contaminants, such as HBCDD, in this reducing Fe(II)/iron oxide system. The results indicate that across the pHs 6.86, 6.95, 7.15 and 7.35 γ and β-HBCDD are degraded within a couple days. The pseudo-first order rate constants at pH 6.95 are 0.049 hr-1 for β-HBCDD and 0.043 hr-1 γ-HBCDD, reaching their half-life within 15 hours of the reaction. These experiments also illustrate the isomers experience slightly different reactivities with different pHs with α-HBCDD reacting the slowest.
Recommended Citation
Roopnarine, Kristian K., "The study of the degradation of hexabromocyclododecane in a heterogeneous system containing Fe(II) adsorbed to the iron oxide Hematite." (2018). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/779