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Efficient removal of gaseous formaldehyde by amine-modified diatomite: a combined experimental and density functional theory study

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Abstract

Amine-modified diatomite with remarkable formaldehyde (HCHO) removal efficiency was prepared by grafting 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) in this research. The interfacial properties and microstructures of the prepared adsorbents were characterized and analyzed. The HCHO adsorption properties of the amine modified diatomite were also systematically studied, and it has been proven to be effective adsorbent with better adsorption performance than activated carbon for the removal of gaseous HCHO. Furthermore, to better explain the experimental results, we performed density functional theory (DFT) study on the adsorption system and calculated the geometry, energy, and charge parameters based on first principles. Also, the underlying adsorption mechanism was proposed detailedly by combining experimentation with DFT calculation, suggesting that amine modified diatomite can be efficient adsorbent for the elimination of gaseous formaldehyde.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFB0310803), the Key R&D Program of Jilin (20180201078GX), the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (2017QNRC001), the Yue Qi Young Scholar Project, China university of Mining &Technology (Beijing) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2010YH10 and 2015QH01).

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  1. School of Chemical and Environment Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Yangyu Liu, Hongwei Jia, Chunquan Li, Zhiming Sun, Yongtai Pan & Shuilin Zheng

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  1. Yangyu Liu
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  2. Hongwei Jia
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  3. Chunquan Li
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  4. Zhiming Sun
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  5. Yongtai Pan
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  6. Shuilin Zheng
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Correspondence to Zhiming Sun.

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Liu, Y., Jia, H., Li, C. et al. Efficient removal of gaseous formaldehyde by amine-modified diatomite: a combined experimental and density functional theory study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 25130–25141 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05758-y

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