Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2006NJ99B

Enhancing the remediation of Trichloroethene (TCE) using double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNT)

Institute: New Jersey
Year Established: 2006 Start Date: 2006-03-01 End Date: 2007-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $10,893

Principal Investigators: Sarat Kannepalli, Donna E. Fennell

Project Summary: The chlorinated organic solvent trichloroethene (TCE) is one of the most commonly detected groundwater contaminants (1). Widespread application in vapor degreasing of fabricated metal parts (80% use) and in the production of organic chemicals and pharmaceuticals (5% use), resulted in increased production from 260,000 lbs in 1981 to 320 million lbs in 1991 (2). The low viscosity, low interfacial tension with water, high volatility and existence as a non-aqueous-phase liquid make many physical and chemical methods of TCE remediation either ineffective or uneconomical. Furthermore, many hydro-geologic formations make remediation difficult. Reliable, cost effective methods for remediation of TCE contaminated groundwater are still needed. The proposed research aims to combine chemical-physical concentration and sequestration using carbon nanotubes and subsequent biodetoxification by dechlorinating bacteria to increase the efficiency of TCE removal from groundwater. The specific objectives of this study are two-fold: (1) What is the sorptive capacity of double walled carbon nanotubes (DWNT) for TCE? and (2) Is carbon nanotube-sequestered TCE bioavailable to dehalogenating bacteria? We hypothesize that TCE sorbed on DWNT is bioavailable to bacteria and this sorption/concentration may increase the dechlorinating efficiency of the bacteria. If feasible, a more efficient remediation technology for TCE contaminated groundwater may be developed.