Simulation transport of biodegradable and green zerovalent iron nanoparticles in sandy soil under saturated steady state flow conditions

Abstract
Background and Objectives: One of the newest techniques for pollutant removal from soil and water resources is utilizing nanotechnology. Application of zerovalent iron nanoparticles (ZVINs) for filtration of soil and water resources is growing as fast as possible due to non-toxic, high reactivity, high surface area, and high adsorbent power characteristics. By increasing ZVINs transport, the reduction and removal efficiency of different pollutants from the goal media will increase. So analyzing the effective factors on ZVINs mobility and transport and realizing the effective mechanisms on ZVINs transport and retention of them in the soil is so vital. Utilizing the guar gum as the natural and green polymer will cause to improve the ZVINs stability. The guar gum as a water soluble and natural polymer from polysaccharide groups has beneficial characteristics comprising of non-toxic, hydrophilic, high stability, low sedimentation due to high static viscosity, low injection pressure due to low dynamic viscosity and especially non-expensive and reducing project costs. The objective of this research was to simulate biodegradable polymer stabilized ZVINs transport in sand columns using HYDRUS-1D software and investigation the effects of initial particles concentration and ionic strength on ZVINs transport and retention in porous media.
Material and Methods: The ZVINs were synthesized using chemical reduction of ferrous sulfate by sodium borohydride. In this research, five different ZVINs stabilized with different polymers including biodegradable polyacrylamide (PAM) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), green natural guar gum (GG) and polystyrene sulfonate (PSS), and bare zero-valent iron nanoparticles were synthesized for preventing ZVINs from being aggregated. The ZVINs were injected in the sand columns in the form of pulse input for a fixed period of time (15 minutes.) using peristaltic pump. The research was conducted using two separate factorial experiments designs as a completely randomized with two factors and three replications (factors of experiment 1: ZVINs types and ZVINs dosages; factors of experiment 2: ZVINs types and ionic strength). Transport of ZVINs and chloride (Cl-1) were simulated by HYDRUS-1D and CXTFIT software, respectively. Kinetic attachment-detachment model colloid with filtration theory (CFT), physical straining, lungmuirian, and blocking models were used to simulate ZVINs transport in soil.
Results: The results revealed that with increasing ZVINs concentration and solution ionic strength, the ZVINs transport in the sand columns decreased. The results also indicated that colloid filtration theory (CFT), physical straining and lungmuirian blocking mechanisms had more accurate to predict ZVINs transport in the porous media, respectively. The results showed that PAM, PVP, PSS, GG stabilized ZVINs and the bare ones had maximum transport in sand columns, respectively.
Conclusion: Transport of ZVINs in the sand columns were increased by stabilizing and application of biodegradable polyacrylamide (PAM), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and Gurgum (GG) coatings as natural and green biopolymers. The findings of this research showed that applying of guar gum as a natural and green polymer improves the ZVINs stability. Therefore, current polymer is a suitable substitute for artificial polymers. The results also revealed that guar gum due to non- expensive, non-toxic, abundance, and low dynamic viscosity could be used as the ZVINs stabilizer for field scales; therefore, the field injection and target pollutants reduction costs would be diminished as a result. Overall, simulation ZVINs transport is so vital for understanding of mechanisms which control ZVINs transport and retention in soil.