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Multi-parameter experiments and modeling for nitrate sorption to quaternary ammonium-functionalized poly(amidoamine) dendrimers in aqueous solutions

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate nitrate sorption onto quaternary ammonium-functionalized poly(amidoamine) dendrimer generation 2.0 (q-PAMAM-G2). The physicochemical characteristics of the q-PAMAM-G2 were examined using field emission scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, electrophoretic light scattering spectrophotometry, elemental analysis, etc. Single-parameter sorption tests were performed under batch conditions to examine the nitrate sorption characteristics of the q-PAMAM-G2. According to a pH experiment, the q-PAMAM-G2 maintained a relatively stable nitrate sorption capacity at pH 2 to 10. X-ray photoelectron spectrometry analysis indicated a new peak for the NH4NO3 bond after nitrate sorption, confirming nitrate sorption to quaternary ammonium groups on the surface of the q-PAMAM-G2 through anion exchange. The kinetic data were best fit with the pseudo-second-order model, whereas the equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir isotherm, suggesting that nitrate sorption onto the q-PAMAM-G2 occurred through chemisorption. Multi-parameter sorption experiments (n = 32) were conducted with three input variables (adsorbent dose, initial nitrate concentration, and solution pH) and one output variable (nitrate removal rate). In response surface methodology (RSM) modeling, a quartic regression model (fourth-order polynomial equation) was developed to predict nitrate sorption onto the q-PAMAM-G2. In the artificial neural network (ANN) modeling, a model with a structure of 3:10:1 was derived to describe the nitrate sorption data. Additional multi-parameter experiments for nitrate sorption onto the q-PAMAM-G2 (n = 8) were conducted to further evaluate the developed models. The developed ANN model (R2 = 0.872) predicted better than did the RSM model (R2 = 0.790) for the additional multi-parameter experimental data.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (NRF-2019R1F1A1057604).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea

    S.-C. Lee, J.-K. Kang & S.-B. Kim

  2. Environmental Functional Materials and Water Treatment Laboratory, Department of Rural Systems Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea

    H.-Y. Jang & S.-B. Kim

  3. Department of Environmental Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 24341, Republic of Korea

    J.-A. Park

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  1. S.-C. Lee
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Contributions

S-CL, Investigation and Writing-Original Draft; J-KK, Conceptualization; H-YJ, Software; J-AP, Methodology; S-BK, Supervision, Writing, Reviewing and Editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to S.-B. Kim.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Editorial responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.

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Lee, SC., Kang, JK., Jang, HY. et al. Multi-parameter experiments and modeling for nitrate sorption to quaternary ammonium-functionalized poly(amidoamine) dendrimers in aqueous solutions. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 11023–11036 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-03911-8

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