Natural organic matter enhanced mobility of nano zerovalent iron.

Column studies showed that the mobility of nanometer-sized zerovalent iron (nZVI) through granular media is greatly increased in the presence of natural organic matter (NOM). At NOM concentrations of 20 mg/L or greater, the nZVI was highly mobile during transport experiments in 0.15-m long columns packed with medium sand. Below 20 mg/L NOM, mobility of the nZVI was less; however, even at 2 mg/L the nZVI showed significantly increased mobility compared to the no-NOM case. Spectrophotometric and aggregation studies of nZVI suspensions in the presence of NOM suggest that sorption of the NOM onto the nZVI, resulting in a reduced sticking coefficient, may be the primary mechanism of enhanced mobility. Modeling the mobility of nZVI in porous media with filtration theory is challenging, but calibration of a simple model with experimental results from the column experiments reported here allows simulation of transport distances during injection. The simulation results show that the increased mobility due to NOM c...