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 ± 1textcelsius. Higher temperature and lower pH facilitated ACTM removal. The addition of different iron species Fe⁰, Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ into ZVAl/H⁺/air system dramatically accelerated the reaction likely due to the enhancing transformation of H₂O₂ to HO. 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.