• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.581-588
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• 2007

To enhance the photodecomposition of concentrated ammonia into N2, Pt/V-TiO2 photocatalysts were prepared using solvothermal and impregnation methods. Nanometer-sized particles of 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mol% V-TiO2 were prepared solvothermally, and then impregnated with 1.0 wt% Pt. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks assigned to V2O5 at 30.20 (010) and Pt metal at 39.80 (111) and 46.20 (200) were seen in the 1.0 wt% Pt/ 10.0 mol% V-TiO2. The particle size increased in the order: pure TiO2, V-TiO2 and Pt/V-TiO2 after thermal treatment at 500 °C, while their surface areas were in the reverse order. On X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the bands assigned to the Ti2p3/2 and Ti2p1/2 of Ti4+-O were seen in all the photocatalysts, and the binding energies increased in the order: TiO2 < Pt/V-TiO2 < V-TiO2. The XPS bands assigned to the V2p3/2 (517.85, 519.35, and 520.55 eV) and V2p1/2 (524.90 eV) in the V3+, V4+ and V5+ oxides appeared over V-TiO2, respectively, while the band shifted to a lower binding energy with Pt impregnation. The Pt components of Pt/ V-TiO2 were identified at 71.60, 73.80, 75.00 and 76.90 eV, which were assigned to metallic Pt 4f7/2, PtO 4f7/2, PtO2 4f7/2, and PtO 4f5/2, respectively. The UV-visible absorption band shifted closer towards the visible region of the spectrum in V-TiO2 than in pure TiO2 and; surprisingly, the Pt/V-TiO2 absorbed at all wavelengths from 200 to 800 nm. The addition of vanadium generated a new acid site in the framework of TiO2, and the medium acidic site increased with Pt impregnation. The NH3 decomposition increased with the amount of vanadium compared to pure TiO2, and was enhanced with Pt impregnation. NH3 decomposition of 100% was attained over 1.0 wt% Pt/1.0 mol% V-TiO2 after 80 min under illumination with 365 nm light, although about 10% of the ammonia was converted into undesirable NO2 and NO. Various intermediates, such as NO2, -NH2, -NH and NO, were also identified in the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra. From the gas chromatography (GC), FT-IR and GC/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analyses, partially oxidized NO and NO2 were found to predominate over V-TiO2 and pure TiO2, respectively, while both molecules were reduced over Pt/V-TiO2.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2014

A large amount of acidic waste solution is generated from the practical electrokinetic decontamination equipments for the remediation of soil contaminated with uranium. After filtration of uranium hydroxides formed by adding CaO into the waste solution, the filtrate was recycled in order to reduce the volume of waste solution. However, when the filtrate was used in an electrokinetic equipment, the low permeability of the filtrate from anode cell to cathode cell due to a high concentration of calcium made several problems such as the weakening of a fabric tamis, the corrosion of electric wire and the adhension of metallic oxides to the surface of cathode electrode. To solve these problems, sulfuric acid was added into the filtrate and calcium in the solution was removed as $CaSO_4$ precipitate. A decontamination test using a small electrokinetic equipment for 20 days indicated that Ca-removed waste solution decreased uranium concentration of the waste soil to 0.35 Bq/g, which is a similar to a decontamination result obtained by distilled water.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.271-281
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• 2001

The characteristics of the heavy metal contamination in the soils affected by the tailings of the Palbong mine have been studied. The soils in the studied area consist mostly of loam by the particle size analysis, but a little of it, located near the stream, consist of loamy sand to sandy loam, finally to loam downward. The organic contents of soils are significantly low aoom 2 percent and the pH is in acidic ranging 6.0 $\pm$ 0.1. The samples of the parent rocks, the normal soils, the tailings and the channel deposits from the studied area were chemically analysed. From the result, the heavy metal concenlration of the soils is a little Jow compared with that of the parent rocks, shows the hydrologic process of the surface and the groundwater. The contamination of the tailings from the ore mining are high in lead, copper and arsenic. In the channel deposits the concenlrations of lead and copper are abnormally high but that of arsenic is uniquely low. And most of heavy metal contamination are decreased with the distance from the mine. It is caused by the properties of the surface and the ground water during the process of the heavy metal migration. The correlation-coefficient between sand and silt contents and the concentrations of Cd, Cu and Pb are significant but the amounts of As and Hg are increased with the clay contents. The dispersion of the heavy metals with the distance shows that the concentrations of them in the soils sampled at distance of 100 m to 200 m along the stream started near the Palbong mine are extremely high compared with those from other distances. These discrepancies are significant in Cd, Cu, Pb and Hg, but low in As. All the samples contain below detection limit of Cr+6 In the present stream water the concentrations of the heavy metals are not detected. So, it is interpreted that the concentrations in the soils are caused by the activities of the mining during the operation and have been continued by the dispersion from the tailings since after the closure of the mining, especially by the surface and ground water. The concentrations are diminished with the distance from the mining site, but in the interval of 800-2000 m increases abruptly. In the soil samples counted on the dispersion direction by wind, the lowering of the concentration is relatively uniform with the distance from the mining site. So, the rapid increase of the heavy metal concentrations is presumed to have been caused by the ground-water movement. In the migration of the heavy metals, the groundwater conditions, such as pH, Eh, the contents of colloidal particles, and Mn and Fe oxides are closely involveo. Integrating with these factors, it is interpreted that the groundwater conditions which have caused the heavy metal contamination of the studied area are those that the pH is about 3 in oxidized conditions, the contents of the colloidal particles are low, and Mn and Fe oxides are not involved in the migration of the heavy metals. Meanwhile, the vegetables growing on the soils in the studied area are not affected by the contamination of the heavy metals.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 2016

The objectives of this study were to recover silica and iron oxides and $CO_2$ sequestration using serpentine via various acid dissolution and pH swing processes. Serpentine collected from Guhang-myeon in S. Korea were mainly composed of antigorite and magnetite consisting of $SiO_2$ (45.3 wt.%), MgO (41.3 wt.%), $Fe_2O_3$ (12.2 wt.%). Serpentine pulverized ($${\leq_-}75{\mu}m$$) and then dissolved in 3 different acids, HCl, $H_2SO_4$, $HNO_3$. Residues treated with acidic solution were recovered from the solution (step 1). And then the residual solution containing dissolved serpentine was titrated using $NH_4OH$. And pH of the solution increased up to pH=8.6 to obtain reddish precipitates (step 2). After recovery of the precipitates, the residual solution reacted with $CO_2$ and then pH increased up to pH=9.5 to precipitate white materials (step 3). The mineralogical characteristics of the original sample and harvested precipitates were examined by XRD, and TEM-EDS analyses. ICP-AES analysis was also used to investigate solution chemistry. The dissolved ions were Mg, Si, and Fe. The antigorite became noncrystralline silica after acid treatment (step 1). The precipitate at pH=8.6 was mainly amorphous iron oxide, of which size ranged from 2 to 10 nm and mainly consisting of Fe, O, and Si (step 2). At pH=9.5, nesquehonite [$Mg(HCO_3)(OH){\cdot}2(H_2O)$] and lasfordite [$MgCO_3{\cdot}H_2O$] were formed after reaction with $CO_2$ (step 3). The size of carbonated minerals was ranged from 1 to $6{\mu}m$. These results indicated that the acid treatment of serpentine and pH swing processes for the serpentine can be used for synthesis of other materials such as silica, iron oxides and magnesium carbonate. Also, This process may be useful for the precursor synthesis and $CO_2$ sequestration via mineral carbonation.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.161-175
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• 2008

The soil developed from volcanic ash in Jeju Island, Korea, were classified as typical Andisols. The soils had acidic pH, high water contents, high organic matters and clay-silty textures. The crystalline minerals of the samples were mainly composed of ferromagnesian minerals such as olivine and pyroxene, and iron oxides such as magnetite and hematite derived from basaltic materials. A large amount of gibbsite was found at the subsurface horizon as a secondary product from the migration of excessive aluminum. In addition, our study has shown that considerable amounts of poorly ordered minerals like allophane and ferrihydrite were present in Jeju soils. The contents of $SiO_2$ were lower than those of other soil orders, but $A1_2O_3$ and $Fe_2O_3$ contents were higher. These results are some of the important chemical properties of Andisols. The contents of heavy metals were in the range of $84{\sim}198$ for Zn, $56{\sim}414$ for Ni, $38{\sim}150$ for Co, $132{\sim}1164\;mg\;kg^{-1}$ for Cr, which are higher than the worldwide values in most of the soils. Some soil samples contained relatively high levels of Cr exceeding 1000 mg/kg. Mean reduction capacity of the Jeju soils was $6.53\;mg\;L^{-1}$ reduced Cr(VI), 5.1 times higher than that of the non-volcanic ash soils from inland of Korea. The soil reduction capacity of the inland soils had a good correlation with total carbon content (R = 0.90). However, in spite of 20 times higher total carbon contents in the Jeju soils, there was a week negative correlation between the reduction capacity and the carbon content (R = -0.469), suggesting that the reduction capacity of Jeju soils is not mainly controlled by the carbon content and affected by other soil properties. Correlations of the reduction capacity with major elements showed that Al and Fe were closely connected with the reduction capacity in Jeju soil (R = 0.793; R = 0.626 respectively). Moreover, the amounts of Ni, Co and Cr had considerable correlations with the reduction capacity (R = 0.538; R = 0.647; R = 0.468 respectively). In particular, in relation to the behavior of redox-sensitive Cr, the oxidation of the trivalent chromium to mobile and toxic hexavalent chromium can be restricted by the high reduction capacity in Jeju soil. The factors controlling the reduction capacity in Jeju soils may have a close relation with the andic soil properties explained by the presence of considerable allophane and ferrihydrite in the soils.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.55-61
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• 2020

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) has been a promising technology to reduce the air pollution caused by nitrogen oxides (NOx) in several industries. The consumption of SCR catalysts increases every year as technology evolves, however those have a limited lifespan and usually end up in landfills after they deactivate. Currently, the most widely used catalyst for and stationary applications is V₂O₅-WO₃/TiO₂ which can contain around 50% wt V₂O₅ and 7-10% wt of WO₃. The vast uses for both vanadium and tungsten and the worldwide interest in recycling methods that allow for the extraction of metals from secondary sources represent the major motivation for this research. The extraction time, pH dependency, extraction concentration studies were carried out using Aliquat 336 in exxol D80 as the extractant. It was determined that to optimize the extraction of both metals 30min of contact time with an organic phase containing 0.5mol/L of Aliquat 336 are needed at a slightly acidic pH (~5.0). In addition, counter McCabe-Thiele studies allowed us to determine that one stage is necessary for the removal of 99% of vanadium while 2 stages are necessary for the extraction of tungsten and counter current simulations proved that the theoretical approach was correct.