Effects of crystalline structures and surface functional groups on the adsorption of haloacetic acids by inorganic materials

A review on the applicability of adsorption techniques for remediation of recalcitrant pesticides

Pesticide has revolutionised the agricultural industry by reducing yield losses and by enhancing productivity. But indiscriminate usage of such chemicals can negatively impact human health and ecosystem balance as certain pesticides can be recalcitrant in nature. Out of some of the suggested sustainable techniques to remove the pesticide load from the environment, adsorption is found to be highly efficient and can also be implemented on a large scale. It has been observed that natural adsorption that takes place after the application of the pesticide is not enough to reduce the pesticide load, hence, adsorbents like activated carbon, plant-based adsorbents, agricultural by-products, silica materials, polymeric adsorbents, metal organic framework etc are being experimented upon. It is becoming increasingly important to choose adsorbents which will not leave any secondary pollutant after treatment and the cost of production of such adsorbent should be feasible. In this review paper, it has been established that certain adsorbent like biochar, hydrochar, resin, metal organic framework etc can efficiently remove pesticides namely chlorpyrifos, diazinon, 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid, atrazine, fipronil, imidacloprid etc. The mechanism of adsorption, thermodynamics and kinetic part have been discussed in detail with respect to the pesticide and adsorbent under discussion. The reason behind choosing an adsorbent for the removal of a particular pesticide have also been explained. It is further highly recommended to carry out a cost analysis before implementing an absorbent because inspite of its efficacy, it might not be cost effective to use it for a particular type of pesticide or contaminant.

Rapid removal of trace haloacetic acids from drinking water by a continuous adsorption process using graphene oxide

Significant health risks are caused by trace levels of haloacetic acids (HAAs) in drinking water. We used graphene oxide (GO), a high-performance absorbent, to remove monochloroacetic acid (MCAA), dichloroacetic acid (DCAA) and trichloroacetic acid (TCAA). 31.6%, 27.1% and 30.2% of MCAA, DCAA and TCAA in drinking water could be rapidly removed within 2 min by the interaction of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between GO and HAAs. On the other hand, as a type of weak interaction, intermolecular hydrogen bonds are easy to fracture, which leads to the recovery of GO. The removal efficiency of MCAA, DCAA and TCAA monotonously decreased with increasing pH from 3 to 11. Temperature was not an important influence on the removal efficiency of HAAs, and only affected the interaction of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between GO and HAAs. A continuous adsorption process was used for further improving the removal efficiency of HAAs, and the concentration of total HAAs decreased from 436 to 52.5 μg L^-1 after five adsorption processes. The total contact time was just 2.25 min, which was faster than other reported adsorbents, and total HAAs could be decreased by 88%. The innovative process in this study provides an effective method for application of GO to rapidly remove HAAs in drinking water.

Pyrogenic carbon-promoted haloacetic acid decarboxylation to trihalomethanes in drinking water

Drinking water disinfection by chlorination or chloramination can result in the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) such as haloacetic acids (HAAs) and trihalomethanes (THMs). Pyrogenic carbonaceous matter (PCM), such as activated carbon (AC), is commonly used as an ostensibly inert adsorbent to remove HAAs from water. HAA degradation has been mainly attributed to biological factors. This study, for the first time, revealed that abiotic HAA degradation in the presence of PCM could be important under water treatment conditions. Specifically, we observed complete destruction of Br3AA, a model HAA, in the presence of powder AC at pH 7 within 30 min. To understand the role of PCM and the reaction mechanism, we performed a systematic study using a suite of HAAs and various PCM types. We found that PCM significantly accelerated the transformation of three HAAs (Br3AA, BrCl2AA, Br2ClAA) at pH 7. Product characterization indicated an approximately 1:1 HAA molar transformation into their respective THMs following a decarboxylation pathway with PCM. The Br3AA activation energy (Ea) was measured by kinetic experiments at 15-45 °C with and without a model PCM, wherein a significant decrease in Ea from 25.7 ± 3.2 to 13.6 ± 2.2 kcal•mol-1 was observed. We further demonstrated that oxygenated functional groups on PCM (e.g., -COOH) can accelerate HAA decarboxylation using synthesized polymers to resemble PCM. Density functional theory simulations were performed to determine the enthalpy of activation (ΔH‡) for Br3AA decarboxylation with H3O+ and formic acid (HCOOH). The presence of HCOOH significantly lowered the overall ΔH‡ value for Br3AA decarboxylation, supporting the hypothesis that -COOH catalyzes the C-C bond breaking in Br3AA. Overall, our study demonstrated the importance of a previously overlooked abiotic reaction pathway, where HAAs can be quickly converted to THMs with PCM under water treatment relevant conditions. These findings have substantial implications for DBP mitigation in water quality control, particularly for potable water reuse or pre-chlorinated water that allow direct contact between HAAs and AC during filtration as well as PAC fines traveling with finished water in water distribution systems. As such, the volatilization and relative low toxicity of volatile THMs may be considered as a detoxification process to mitigate adverse DBP effects in drinking water, thereby lowering potential health risks to consumers.

Adsorption of iodinated trihalomethanes onto thiol functionalized ZIF-8s: Active adsorption sites, adsorptive mechanisms, and dehalogenation by-products

The adsorptive mechanisms operating in, and the effect of two different thiol modification methods on, the removal of five iodinated trihalomethanes (I-THMs) by the zeolite imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) were investigated in single and mixed solutions. The direct postgrafting of dithioglycol to the zinc complex node of ZIF-8 (ZF-SH) can increase the mesopore structures that enhance inner pore accessibility; this increase is a critical property required for excellent adsorption of I-THMs. The synergetic adsorptive interactions consist of Lewis acid-base interactions via the Zn-Zn complex, ion-dipole interactions involving the protonated hydroxyl and thiol groups, and hydrophobic interactions at the imidazole ring. In contrast to ZF-SH, the (3-mercaptopropyl)-trimethoxy functionalized silica coating on ZIF-8 (ZF-Si-SH) causes a lower thiol moiety and a steric effect that is reflected in its lower adsorption capacity. In both single and mixed solutions, the small molecular size and hydrophobic nature of I-THMs can promote better adsorption capacity on all thiol-modified ZIF-8, while the minus dipole charge distribution of the I-THMs structure plays a more critical role in selective adsorption on pristine ZIF-8. Interestingly, the dehalogenation of triiodomethane to diiodomethane due to a nucleophilic substitution (S_N2) reaction can be accelerated by the thiol functionalized silica layer on ZIF-8.

Adsorption of single and mixed haloacetonitriles on silica-based porous materials: Mechanisms and effects of porous structures

Adsorption mechanisms and the role of different porous and crystalline structures on the removal of five haloacetonitriles (HANs) over hexagonal mesoporous silica (HMS), titanium substituted mesoporous silica (Ti-HMS), rod-shaped SBA-15 and microporous zeolite NaY were investigated. In addition, the effect of pH on adsorption mechanism and selective adsorption of five HANs individually and in an equimolar mixed solution were evaluated. The results indicated that the intraparticle diffusion rate constants of the mesoporous adsorbents were higher than that of the microporous NaY. In single solute, the order of adsorption preference (highest to lowest) was mono-HANs > di-HANs > tri-HAN. However, in mixed solute, the large molecular weight of the tri-HAN and di-HANs are more easily adsorbed than the smaller molecular weight mono-HANs. Except for SBA-15, the order of adsorption capacities in mixed HANs solute was not different compared to that observed for the single HAN solute, which might be caused by the higher accessibility to the active sites due to larger pore size. The ion-dipole electrostatic interaction was likely to be the main adsorption mechanism, and was favored at high pH values due to the high negative surface charge density of the adsorbent. The molecular structure of the HANs and hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature affected the adsorption capacities and their selective adsorption from mixed solutes.

Phosphorus adsorption onto clay minerals and iron oxide with consideration of heterogeneous particle morphology

Particle morphology plays an important role in solid-water interface adsorption, which affects the fate and behavior of phosphorus (P) in rivers and lakes and the resulting eutrophication. In this paper, three minerals including kaolinite, montmorillonite and hematite were considered to investigate the contributions of particle morphology to P adsorption using adsorption experiments and microscopic examinations. The Taylor expansion method is applied to quantitatively characterize the heterogeneity of surface morphology. The results reveal that local concave or convex micro-morphology characterized by the second order term of Taylor expansion F₂, can affect the local adsorption capacity due to its effect on the distribution of surface charge and reactive sites. Moreover, the adsorbed P at different F₂ here fits to a Weibull distribution, which can further define the representative average adsorption onto individual particles. A weighted average morphology factor F_2a is derived to characterize the surface heterogeneity, and correlated with average P adsorption of particular mineral particles. In addition, the Sips model can successfully fit the experimental data of different minerals, and the heterogeneity parameters γ and adsorption capacity Q_m in the model are proved to be functions with the basic mineral properties, including particle size, surface site density and morphology characterization as well. It is concluded that the complex surface morphology plays a significant role in particle adsorption and the morphological role need to be considered in the adsorption model in order to better describe the adsorption in system with heterogeneous solid surface.

Enhancing adsorption efficiency of dichloroacetic acid onto mesoporous carbons: Procedure optimization, mechanism and characterization

Highly ordered mesoporous carbon may be directly synthesized via supramolecular self-assembly with in situ evaporation-induced crystallization process by controlling thermal reaction temperatures and carbon mass loading. In the present study, the effects of thermal reaction temperatures on the structural characterization and adsorption capacity of mesoporous carbon have been investigated and analyzed with orthogonal test experiments. The results show the carbonization temperature (R=32.1) plays a more important role than the self-assembly temperature (R=8.5) and thermal polymerization temperature (R=10.1) in manipulating the pore texture structures. The optimization grouping temperature was 40-110-500 °C. The optimum mesoporous carbon sample had the highest BET specific surface area (474 m(2)/g), the largest pore volume (0.46 cm(3)/g), and with reasonable uniform pore size distribution. The adsorption evaluation also shows the adsorption capacity is strongly correlated with the pore structure of mesoporous carbon, the optimized mesoporous carbon sample displayed the largest adsorption capacity (350 mg/g) at an initial concentration of 20.0 mg/L of dichloroacetic acid. The study results indicate optimization of thermal reaction parameters is an effective approach for synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbons.

Adsorption equilibrium, kinetics and thermodynamics of dichloroacetic acid from aqueous solution using mesoporous carbon

The presence of disinfection by-products, such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids in water, is believed to be harmful to human health. In this work, mesoporous carbon was synthesized with the evaporation-induced self-assembly method and employed to evaluate the effects of initial concentration, contact time, pH and temperature on the removal of dichloroacetic acid in batch experiments. Adsorption equilibrium was established in 480 min and the maximum adsorption (350mg/g) of dichloroacetic acid on the mesoporous carbon was observed to occur at 308 K and pH 3.0. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms were used to analyse the equilibrium data at different temperatures; kinetic data were fitted to the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models and found that the adsorption capacity, mass transfer coefficient and diffusivity of dichloroacetic acid were directly affected by the physical and chemical parameters. In addition, the various thermodynamic parameters, such as Gibbs free energy (Delta G), enthalpy (Delta H = 54.35 kJmol-1) and entropy (Delta S = 258.36 Jmol-1 K-1) were calculated to analyse the adsorption process. The experimental results indicated that the mesoporous carbon was an excellent adsorbent for dichloroacetic acid removal from aqueous solutions.

Novel insights in Al-MCM-41 precursor as adsorbent for regulated haloacetic acids and nitrate from water

High concentration of NO (3) (-) in groundwater has raised concern over possible contamination of drinking water supplies. In addition, the formation of haloacetic acids (HAAs) as by-products during disinfection with chlorine-based agents is still a relevant issue, since HAAs pose serious health hazard. In this work, we investigated the affinity of a precursor of Al-MCM-41 (a mesostructured hexagonal aluminosilicate containing the template surfactant) towards nitrate and HAAs, for its possible application in the removal of these pollutants from natural and drinking waters. Additionally, adsorption kinetics and isotherms were studied. The adsorbent was synthesized using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as surfactant and characterized by physico-chemical techniques. Simulated drinking water was spiked with the EPA-regulated HAAs (monochloroacetic (MCAA), monobromoacetic (MBAA), dichloroacetic (DCAA), dibromoacetic (DBAA), and trichloroacetic (TCAA) acids) and placed in contact with the adsorbent. The effect of matrix composition was studied. Adsorption kinetic studies were performed testing three kinetics models. For the adsorption studies, three adsorption isotherm approaches have been tested to experimental data. The pollutant recoveries were evaluated by suppressed ion chromatography. The affinity of the adsorbent was TCAA = DBAA = DCAA > MBAA > MCAA with DCAA, DBAA, and TCAA completely removed. A removal as high as 77 % was achieved for 13 mg/L nitrate. The adsorption isotherms of NO (3) (-) and monochloroacetic acid can be modeled by the Freundlich equation, while their adsorption kinetics follow a pseudo-second-order rate mechanism. The adsorbent exhibited high affinity towards HAAs in simulated drinking water even at relevant matrix concentrations, suggesting its potential application for water remediation technologies.

Adsorption characteristics of haloacetonitriles on functionalized silica-based porous materials in aqueous solution

The effect of the surface functional group on the removal and mechanism of dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN) adsorption over silica-based porous materials was evaluated in comparison with powdered activated carbon (PAC). Hexagonal mesoporous silicate (HMS) was synthesized and functionalized by three different types of organosilanes (3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane and n-octyldimethysilane). Adsorption kinetics and isotherm models were used to determine the adsorption mechanism. The selective adsorption of five haloacetonitriles (HANs) in the single and mixed solute systems was also studied. The experiments revealed that the surface functional groups of the adsorbents largely affected the DCAN adsorption capacities. 3-Mercaptopropyl-grafted HMS had a high DCAN adsorption capacity compared to PAC. The adsorption mechanism is believed to occur via an ion-dipole electrostatic interaction in which water interference is inevitable at low concentrations of DCAN. In addition, the adsorption of DCAN strongly depended on the pH of the solution as this related to the charge density of the adsorbents. The selective adsorption of the five HANs over PAC was not observed, while the molecular structure of different HANs obviously influenced the adsorption capacity and selectivity over 3-mercaptopropyl-grafted HMS.