Abstract
Overgrowth of Eichhornia crassipes, or water hyacinth, in local waters is a major concern, which has caused severe ecological disasters. Moreover, once the E. crassipes biomass is collected from waters, its treatment is difficult because the biomass is highly cellulosic and resistant to bacterial degradation. On the other hand, using biochar adsorbent for water treatment has gained attention because of its low cost and ease of manufacture, but pristine biochar has a low adsorption capacity. Here, a novel nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) coated E. crassipes biochar was synthesized, and the obtained nZVI/biochar was used to remove Cd(II) from aqueous solutions. The deposition of nZVI onto pristine biochar increased specific surface area while retaining functional groups of the carbonaceous surface. Results show that the maximum Cd(II) adsorption capacity based on the Langmuir isotherm is 56.62 mg/g for nZVI/biochar, 2.2-fold of that of pristine biochar. The higher Cd(II) adsorption performance of nZVI/biochar is likely due to the synergistic effects of biochar adsorption and additional nZVI interaction with Cd(II).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bagnall LO, Furman TD, Hentges Jr JF et al (1974) Feed and fiber from effluent-grown water hyacinth. In: Environmental protection technology series EPA-660/2-74-041, USEPA, Washington, DC
Bhattacharya A, Kumar P (2010) Water hyacinth as a potential biofuel crop. EJEAFChe 9:112–122
Chen X, Chen G, Chen L et al (2011) Adsorption of copper and zinc by biochars produced from pyrolysis of hardwood and corn straw in aqueous solution. Bioresour Technol 102:8877–8884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.06.078
Cornwell DA, Zoltek J Jr, Patrinely CD et al (1977) Nutrient removal by water hyacinths. J Water Pollut Control Fed 49:57–65
Dubey S, Shri M, Gupta A et al (2018) Toxicity and detoxification of heavy metals during plant growth and metabolism. Environ Chem Lett. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-018-0741-8
Fu H, Li Z, Liu Z, Wang Z (2018) Research on big data digging of hot topics about recycled water use on micro-blog based on particle swarm optimization. Sustainability 10(7):2488
Geng B, Jin Z, Li T et al (2009) Preparation of chitosan-stabilized Fe(0) nanoparticles for removal of hexavalent chromium in water. Sci Total Environ 407:4994–5000. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.05.051
Godt J, Scheidig F, Grosse-Siestrup C et al (2006) The toxicity of cadmium and resulting hazards for human health. J Occup Med Toxicol 1:22. https://doi.org/10.1186/1745-6673-1-22
Gurwick NP, Moore LA, Kelly C et al (2013) A systematic review of biochar research, with a focus on its stability in situ and its promise as a climate mitigation strategy. PLoS ONE 8:e75932. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0075932
Han L, Xue S, Zhao S et al (2015) Biochar supported nanoscale iron particles for the efficient removal of methyl orange dye in aqueous solutions. PLoS ONE 10:e0132067. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0132067
Han L, Qian L, Liu R et al (2017) Lead adsorption by biochar under the elevated competition of cadmium and aluminum. Sci Rep 7:2264. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02353-4
Istirokhatun T, Rokhati N, Rachmawaty R et al (2015) Cellulose isolation from tropical water hyacinth for membrane preparation. Proced Environ Sci 23:274–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2015.01.041
Jain R, Dominic D, Jordan N et al (2016) Higher Cd adsorption on biogenic elemental selenium nanoparticles. Environ Chem Lett 14:381–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-016-0560-8
Jensen CD, Gujarathi NP (2016) Methyl jasmonate improves radical generation in macrophyte phytoremediation. Environ Chem Lett 14:549–558. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-016-0591-1
Kahlon SK, Sharma G, Julka JM et al (2018) Impact of heavy metals and nanoparticles on aquatic biota. Environ Chem Lett 16:919–946. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-018-0737-4
Li XQ, Zhang WX (2007) Sequestration of metal cations with zerovalent iron nanoparticles a study with high resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HR-XPS). J Phys Chem C 111:6939–6946. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp0702189
Li F, Shen K, Long X et al (2016) Preparation and characterization of biochars from Eichornia crassipes for cadmium removal in aqueous solutions. PLoS ONE 11:e0148132. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148132
Liu Z, Zhang FS, Wu J (2010) Characterization and application of chars produced from pinewood pyrolysis and hydrothermal treatment. Fuel 89:510–514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2009.08.042
Masto RE, Kumar S, Rout TK et al (2013) Biochar from water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) and its impact on soil biological activity. CATENA 111:64–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2013.06.025
Meng J, Feng X, Dai Z et al (2014) Adsorption characteristics of Cu(II) from aqueous solution onto biochar derived from swine manure. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 21:7035–7046. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2627-z
Mitchell DS (1974) Aquatic vegetation and its use and control. UNESCO, Paris
Mohan D, Sarswat A, Ok YS et al (2014) Organic and inorganic contaminants removal from water with biochar, a renewable, low cost and sustainable adsorbent—a critical review. Bioresour Technol 160:191–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.01.120
Muthusaravanan S, Sivarajasekar N, Vivek JS et al (2018) Phytoremediation of heavy metals: mechanisms, methods and enhancements. Environ Chem Lett. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-018-0762-3
Patel S (2012) Threats, management and envisaged utilizations of aquatic weed Eichhornia crassipes: an overview. Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol 11:249–259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-012-9289-4
Schwickardi M, Olejnik S, Salabas EL et al (2006) Scalable synthesis of activated carbon with super paramagnetic properties. Chem Commun. https://doi.org/10.1039/B608231A
Sundari MT, Ramesh A (2012) Isolation and characterization of cellulose nanofibers from the aquatic weed water hyacinth—Eichhornia crassipes. Carbohydr Polym 87:1701–1705. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2011.09.076
Tsai WT, Liu SC, Chen HR et al (2012) Textural and chemical properties of swine-manure-derived biochar pertinent to its potential use as a soil amendment. Chemosphere 89:198–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.05.085
Üzüm Ç, Shahwan T, Eroğlu AE et al (2009) Synthesis and characterization of kaolinite-supported zero-valent iron nanoparticles and their application for the removal of aqueous Cu2+ and Co2+ ions. Appl Clay Sci 43:172–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2008.07.030
Villaseñor MJ, Ríos Á (2018) Nanomaterials for water cleaning and desalination, energy production, disinfection, agriculture and green chemistry. Environ Chem Lett 16:11–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-017-0656-9
Xue XY, Cheng R, Shi L et al (2017) Nanomaterials for water pollution monitoring and remediation. Environ Chem Lett 15:23–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-016-0595-x
Yan J, Han L, Gao W et al (2015) Biochar supported nanoscale zerovalent iron composite used as persulfate activator for removing trichloroethylene. Bioresour Technol 175:269–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.10.103
Zhou Y, Gao B, Zimmerman AR et al (2014) Biochar-supported zerovalent iron for removal of various contaminants from aqueous solutions. Bioresour Technol 152:538–542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.11.021
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the projects of the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC0402604), Key projects of water conservancy science and technology innovation in Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2016-22, 2017-21), Science and Technology Planning Project of Dongguan City (Grant No. 2016108101015).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, L., Li, F., Wei, Y. et al. High cadmium adsorption on nanoscale zero-valent iron coated Eichhornia crassipes biochar. Environ Chem Lett 17, 589–594 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-018-0811-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-018-0811-y