Oxidative removal of acetaminophen using zero valent aluminum-acid system: Efficacy, influencing factors, and reaction mechanism

Commercial available zero valent aluminum under air-equilibrated acidic conditions (ZVAl/H+/air system) demonstrated an excellent capacity to remove aqueous organic compounds. Acetaminophen (ACTM), the active ingredient of the over-the-counter drug Tylenol, is widely present in the aquatic environment and therefore the treatment of ACTM-contaminated water calls for further research. Herein we investigated the oxidative removal of ACTM by ZVAl/H+/air system and the reaction mechanism. In acidic solutions (pH < 3.5), ZVAl displayed an excellent capacity to remove ACTM. More than 99% of ACTM was eliminated within 16 hr in pH 1.5 reaction solutions initially containing 2.0 g/L aluminum and 2.0 mg/L ACTM at 25 +/- 1 degrees C. Higher temperature and lower pH facilitated ACTM removal. The addition of different iron species Fe-0, Fe2+ and Fe3+ into ZVAl/H+/air system dramatically accelerated the reaction likely due to the enhancing transformation of H2O2 to HO center dot via Fenton's reaction. Furthermore, the primary intermediate hydroquinone and the anions formate, acetate and nitrate, were identified and a possible reaction scheme was proposed. This work suggested that ZVAl/H+/air system may be potentially employed to treat ACTM-contaminated water.