A Mechanistic Understanding of Hydrogen Peroxide Decomposition by Vanadium Minerals for Diethyl Phthalate Degradation

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The interaction of naturally occurring minerals with H 2 O 2 affects the remediation efficiency of polluted sites in in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) treatments. However, interactions between vanadium(V) minerals and H 2 O 2 have rarely been explored. In this study, H 2 O 2 decomposition by various vanadium-containing minerals including V(III), V(IV), and V(V) oxides was examined, and the mechanism of hydroxyl radical ( • OH) generation for contaminant degradation was studied. Vanadium minerals were found to catalyze H 2 O 2 decomposition efficiently to produce • OH for diethyl phthalate (DEP) degradation in both aqueous solutions with a wide pH range and in soil slurry. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, and free radical quenching studies suggested that • OH was produced via single electron transfer from V(III)/V(IV) to H 2 O 2 followed a Fenton-like pathway on the surface of V 2 O 3 and VO 2 particles, whereas the oxygen vacancy (OV) was mainly responsible for • OH formation on the surface of V 2 O 5 particles. This study provides new insight into the mechanism of interactions between vanadium minerals and H 2 O 2 during H 2 O 2 -based ISCO.