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

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support from Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca, Italy, PRIN 2008 “Hierarchical Porosity Materials for gas adsorption and pollutants removal” is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Torino, Via P. Giuria 5, 10125, Turin, Italy

    Maria Concetta Bruzzoniti, Rosa Maria De Carlo & Corrado Sarzanini

  2. Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, CR-INSTM for Materials with Controlled Porosity, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129, Turin, Italy

    Dario Caldarola & Barbara Onida

Authors
  1. Maria Concetta Bruzzoniti
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  2. Rosa Maria De Carlo
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  3. Corrado Sarzanini
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  4. Dario Caldarola
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  5. Barbara Onida
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Concetta Bruzzoniti.

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Responsible editor: Leif Kronberg

Supplementary material

XRD pattern, 27Al MAS NMR spectrum, and TG analyses for sorbent characterization are available, as well as the application of linearized adsorption isotherms and kinetics.

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Bruzzoniti, M.C., De Carlo, R.M., Sarzanini, C. et al. Novel insights in Al-MCM-41 precursor as adsorbent for regulated haloacetic acids and nitrate from water. Environ Sci Pollut Res 19, 4176–4183 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-0900-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-0900-6

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