Mesoporous silica adsorbents modified with amino polycarboxylate ligands - functional characteristics, health and environmental effects

A series of hybrid adsorbents were produced by surface modification with amino polycarboxylate ligands of industrially available microparticles (MP) of Kromasil® mesoporous nanostructured silica beads, bearing grafted amino propyl ligands. Produced materials, bearing covalently bonded functions as EDTA and TTHA, original Kromasil®, bearing amino propyl ligands, and bare particles, obtained by thermal treatment of Kromasil® in air, were characterized by SEM-EDS, AFM, FTIR, TGA and gas sorption techniques. Adsorption kinetics and capacity of surface-modified particles to adsorb Rare Earth Elements (REE), crucial for extraction in recycling processes, were evaluated under dynamic conditions, revealing specificity matching the ligand nature and the size of REE cations. A detailed comparison with earlier reported adsorbents for REE extraction was presented. The cytotoxicity was assessed using four different types of healthy cells, human skeletal muscles derived cells (SKMDC), fibroblast cells, macrophage cells (RAW264.7), and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), indicating lower toxicity of ligand-free MP than MP bearing amino poly-carboxylate functions. Internalization of the MP inside the cells and release of nitric oxide were observed. In addition, zebrafish embryos were exposed to high concentrations of MP and did not show any pronounced toxicity.

Enhanced selective removal of arsenic(V) using a hybrid nanoscale zirconium molybdate embedded anion exchange resin

Selective removal of trace arsenic is crucial for obtaining safe drinking water. Here, the selective adsorptive performance of arsenate (As(V)) on a hybrid ZMAE (nanoscale zirconium molybdate embedded a macroporous anion exchange resin) was examined. It was found that the As(V) adsorption efficiency of ZMAE was almost retained in the presence of competing ions (NO₃^- or SO₄^2-) up an [SO₄^2-]/[As] or [NO₃^-]/[As] ratio of 150/1, whereas that of bare AE (anion exchange resin) was negligible for [SO₄]/[As] over 15/1. In addition, the As(V) maximum adsorption capacity of ZMAE was found to be 41.2 mg/g, which is in contrast with the negligible adsorption of bare AE under sulfate-rich condition. The enhanced arsenate selectivity of ZMAE can be attributed to the excellent selectivity of ZM NPs (zirconium molybdate nanoparticles), which contributed up to 45% of the adsorption capacity of ZMAE. The behavior of ZMAE towards arsenate was compared with that towards phosphate showing similar adsorption performances between them, which indicates the similar affinity of ZMAE towards arsenate and phosphate. Finally, ZMAE examined for fixed-bed column adsorption for As(V) removal from synthetic As(V) water was effective for up to 5100 BVs, treating As(V) from 0.1 mg/L to below 0.01 mg/L (meeting the WHO guidelines).

Enhanced fluoride uptake by bimetallic hydroxides anchored in cotton cellulose/graphene oxide composites

A novel hybrid nanomaterial was synthesized by embedding the bimetallic Zr and La (hydro)xides onto the cotton cellulose/graphene oxide composites (CC/GO composites), forming the Zr-La-CC/GO nanocomposites. Selective uptake of fluoride onto the Zr-La /GO hybrids in multiple competitive environments were evaluated. Morphological characteristics of Zr-La-CC/GO nanocomposites reflected the well distributions of embedded Zr and La hydroxides in the nanocomposites. Results also indicated that the encapsulated bimetallic hydroxides in Zr-La-CC/GO hybrids exhibited extremely high fluoride adsorption capacity and stability. XPS investigation exhibited the strong ZrF and LaF bonds in spent Zr-La-CC/GO nanocomposites, and the bonds were weakened at higher pH, which was consistent with the adsorption results. In addition, CC/GO composites using as the host could also exert the strong shielding effect to improve the stability of embedded La and Zr species so as only a low La dissolution (<4.2%) and almost no Zr leaching (0.1%) were observed in high HA concentration. What's more, the Zr-La-CC/GO nanocomposites have also shown great potential application for defluoridation in field.

Efficient removal of Cd(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), and Zn(II) from wastewater and natural water using submersible device

In this study, a simple submersible device was tested to remove and recover Cd(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), and Zn(II) from model wastewater and real natural water. To obtain this device, fine particles (< 0.1 mm) of a new hybrid adsorbent based on the mesoporous carbon and Fenton-modified humic acids were fixed onto a highly porous polymeric matrix. The hybrid adsorbent was characterized by various methods. The main mechanism for Cd(II), Cu(II), Pb(II), and Zn(II) adsorption by the hybrid adsorbent is chemosorption by surface functional groups, the total concentration of which was found to be 1.56 mmol g^-1. The adsorption capacity depends on pH, and at pH 6.0, it has the following order (mmol g^-1): Cu(II) (1.14) > Pb(II) (0.86) > Zn(II) (0.59) > Cd(II) (0.50). The possibility of applying a submersible device for the removal and recovery of these metals from multi-metal wastewaters and reservoirs was studied. A high efficiency of metal removal (95-99.9%) and recovery (85-99%) from wastewater remained in at least six consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles. Effective removal of metals from the water of a contaminated reservoir contributed to the rapid restoration of the phytoplankton organisms after their oppression by metals. Thus, the use of a submerged device with the new hybrid adsorbent can be an effective way of remediating wastewaters and natural waters contaminated with metals.

Silica-coated magnetite nanoparticles core-shell spheres (Fe3O4@SiO2) for natural organic matter removal

Background

In this work, the magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles (MNPs) and silica-coated magnetite nanoparticles (SMNPs) were synthesized as adsorbents for removing humic acid (HA) from water resources.

Methods

The adsorption processes were performed in batch experiments with which the influence of pH, reaction time, adsorbent dosage, initial concentrations of HA and temperature were investigated. Specific techniques were applied to characterize the features of both adsorbents (i. e. TECHNIQUES) (SEM, XRD, TEM, BET, EDX and VSM).

Results

The maximum saturation magnetization for SMNPs was 30.2 emu/g, which made its separation from the solution by a magnetic field to be easier and faster. The HA adsorption process onto the both adsorbents were best described by the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Highest adsorption efficiency of HA by MNPs an d SMNPs occurred at acidic conditions (pH ≈ 3). The mechanisms of adsorption process involved with a physisorption process such as (i. e. hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction). The predicted maximum monolayer adsorption capacities obtained by Langmuir isotherm model for MNPs and SMNPs were 96.15 and 196.07 mg/g, respectively.

Conclusion

Higher amount of HA adsorption onto the surfaces of SMNPs than MNPs surfaces was observed, reflecting that silica impregnated on MNPs enhances the efficiency of the adsorbent in removing HA.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40201-016-0262-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Activated carbons impregnated with iron oxide nanoparticles for enhanced removal of bisphenol A and natural organic matter

The removal of bisphenol A (BPA) is important for the provision of safe drinking water, but its removal in the presence of natural organic matter (NOM) is challenging. Thus, the present study involved the fabrication and characterization of powdered activated carbons impregnated with iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPACs) with respect to the simultaneous removal of BPA and NOM. The number of Fe ions loaded into the PAC pores was optimized in terms of exposure time. Impregnation with iron oxide reduced the surface area and pore volume, but the pore size was maintained. IONPAC adsorbents had considerably greater sorption capabilities for BPA and NOM compared to native, bare PAC particles. The adsorption capacities of BPA and NOM were in the following sequence: bare PAC<hematite/PAC < magnetite/PAC < ferrihydrite/PAC. The enhanced removal by IONPACs was attributable to the surface coordination between the functional groups in the iron oxides (e.g., hydroxyl groups) and organics (e.g., phenolic/carboxyl groups). Iron oxide impregnation enabled the BPA uptake to be maintained in the presence of NOM, indicating that the hybrid adsorbent provided synergistic adsorption characteristics for BPA and NOM. Although the solution pH had a negligible impact on BPA uptake, the ionic strength showed a significant effect, particularly in the presence of divalent Ca ions.

Development of high efficiency silica coated β-cyclodextrin polymeric adsorbent for the removal of emerging contaminants of concern from water

This article reports the removal of several emerging contaminants (ECs) from water using novel adsorbent comprising of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) coated on silica. Fourteen different adsorbents were synthesized under different experimental conditions using two different crosslinking agents (hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI) and epichlorohydrin (EPI)) and co-polymers (glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane (GPTS) and aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES). The adsorption capacities of the synthesized adsorbents were initially evaluated using 17β-estradiol, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and bisphenol-A (BPA) as adsorbates. The adsorbent prepared by using HMDI as crosslinking agent with DMSO as solvent was observed to perform the best, and removed more than 90% of 17β-estradiol, PFOA, and BPA. Furthermore, the β-CD loading on the ECs removal was studied which showed that the adsorbate removal increases with increase in loading of β-CD on the substrate. The best adsorbent was resynthesized in seven batches and its performance was reproducible for the removal of ten steroid hormones. The adsorbent showed very good regeneration potential for four successive adsorption-regeneration cycles to remove steroid hormones and PFOA. A plausible mechanism of adsorption is proposed. The synthesized best adsorbent is characterized using FTIR, HR-TEM, TGA and nitrogen adsorption analysis. The TGA results showed that the adsorbent has thermal stability of upto 300°C.