Preparation of palladized carbon nanotubes encapsulated iron composites: highly efficient dechlorination for trichloroethylene and low corrosion of nanoiron

A method developed based on the capillary effect and capillary condensation theory was used to synthesize an innovative Fe/C/Pd composite in this study. This composite (Fe@CNTs@Pd) consists of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) on the inner surface and palladium nanoparticles supported on the outer surface of CNTs. This structure successfully addresses the problems of high iron corrosion rate and lower utilization rate of hydrogen in the application of bimetal nanoparticles for trichloroethylene (TCE) removal. TCE degradation experiments and electrochemical tests were conducted to investigate the material properties and reaction mechanisms of the composite. It is found that the prepared composite material contribute a high level of TCE dechlorination rate and substantially reduced hydrogen production during iron corrosion in water compared with the conventional CNTs-supported bimetal materials (Fe/Pd@CNTs). Hydrogen spillover effect helps the reactivity of Fe@CNTs@Pd for TCE deg...