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Enhanced Transport of TiO2-Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites in Saturated Porous Media: the Impact of Loaded TiO2 Shape and Solution Conditions

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Abstract

Laboratory sand column experiments were conducted to model the transport behavior of TiO2 nanoparticle-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (TiO2 NP/rGO) and TiO2 nanowire-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (TiO2 NW/rGO) using different electrolyte solutions and pH values. The breakthrough curve of TiO2/rGO nanocomposite shows that the mobility is highly sensitive to ionic strength and pH. Experimental results found that the zeta potential of TiO2 NW/rGO is more negative due to more hydroxide ions in solution from the TiO2 NWs. The mobility of TiO2 NW/rGO is slightly greater than that of TiO2 NP/rGO at lower ionic strength (1–50 mM NaCl and 1–5 mM CaCl2), whereas at 10 mM CaCl2, TiO2 NW/rGO had weak transport because of physical straining. The ratio of the hydrodynamic diameter (4214 nm) to sand diameter was as high as 0.83. Mobility increased for both TiO2 NP/rGO and TiO2 NW/rGO with respect to ionic strength because of electrostatic repulsions. When the pH was 9 with a 10 mM NaCl background solution, the stronger energy barrier between the nanocomposite and sand contributed to the enhanced transport behavior. However, with a solution at pH 3–6, the ripening effect controlled the transport of TiO2 NW/rGO. The normalized concentrations rapidly climbed to a maximum (0.05 and 0.14) and then decreased gradually after 2 pore volumes. In general, these behaviors may well predict the fate of carbon-based nanoparticles with tailwater or wastewater flowing into soil environments.

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Funding

The authors gratefully recognize the support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21876044, 51739002), the Outstanding Youth Fund of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20170098), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2018B14414), and a project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lake of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, People’s Republic of China

    Jiajing Cao, Xue Bai, Haoyu Ge, Yuanyuan Ding & Zulin Hua

  2. National Engineering Research Center of Water Resources Efficient Utilization and Engineering Safety, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, People’s Republic of China

    Xue Bai

  3. Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, The Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100871, People’s Republic of China

    Zhengfang Ye

  4. College of Mechanics and Materials, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Chen

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  1. Jiajing Cao
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  4. Wei Chen
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  5. Haoyu Ge
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Correspondence to Xue Bai.

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Cao, J., Bai, X., Ye, Z. et al. Enhanced Transport of TiO2-Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites in Saturated Porous Media: the Impact of Loaded TiO2 Shape and Solution Conditions. Water Air Soil Pollut 231, 124 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04492-3

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