Trichloroethylene degradation performance in aqueous solution by Fe(II) activated sodium percarbonate in the presence of surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate

The performance of trichloroethylene (TCE) degradation by sodium percarbonate (SPC) activated with Fe(II) in the presence of 3.0 g/L sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as well as the role of SDS in the SPC/Fe(II) system was investigated since SDS is a common surfactant used in groundwater remediation for improving TCE dissolution to the aqueous phase. The results showed that though the introduction of SDS could inhibit the TCE degradation, the inhibiting effect was less with the increasing SDS dose. In the presence of SDS, TCE could be completely removed with the SPC/Fe(II)/TCE molar ratio of 40/80/1. Experiments with free radical probe compounds and radical scavengers elucidated that TCE was mainly oxidized by both HO· and O2-· . A weakly acidic environment was more favorable to TCE degradation. Nevertheless, HCO3- at a high concentration had a strongly inhibitive effect on the TCE degradation but the influence of Cl- was negligible. Finally, the excellent TCE degradation achieved in actual groundwater demonstrated that Fe(II) activated SPC technique was applicable in the remediation of TCE contaminated groundwater in the presence of SDS. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The effects of SDS were evaluated SPC/Fe(II)/SDS system applied to remediate TCE The mechanism of HO· and O2-· generation had been investigated Cl- and HCO3- affected TCE degradation at different levels The performance of TCE removal in actual groundwater had been studied.