Dendritic Fibrous Nanosilica-Enhanced Adsorption Enables Efficiently Catalytic Removal of Persistent Organic Pollutants from Soil

Soil contaminated by persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is a substantial environmental concern because it poses severe health hazards. Fenton oxidation in the removal of 2,4-DCP in soil has attracted considerable attention but suffers from low efficiency due to strong adsorption. In this study, an environmental-friendly catalyst (DFNS-Fe2O3) was prepared by loading Fe2O3 on DFNS for degradation of 2,4-DCP and other phenolic compounds in soil. DFNS-Fe2O3 shows superior catalytic performance for 2,4-DCP degradation by activating H2O2, with nearly 98% degradation within 120 min both in kaolin clay and natural soil sample. DFNS-Fe2O3 is also able to effectively removal of other phenolic compounds (phenol, bisphenol A, 2-chlorophenol). Radical scavenging tests revealed that hydroxyl and superoxide were involved in the degradation. The high surface areas and pore volume of DFNS-Fe2O3 is found to be beneficial to extract and accumulate 2,4-DCP from the soil. These findings provide inspired application of DFNS in POPs removal from soil