Investigation of nanoscale zerovalent iron-based magnetic and thermal dual-responsive composite materials for the removal and detection of phenols

Chemosphere. 2018 Mar:195:472-482. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.12.093. Epub 2017 Dec 19.

Abstract

In this study, well-defined magnetic and thermal dual-responsive nanomaterials were synthesized, which contained ultrafine core-shell Fe@SiO2 nanoparticles as magnetic core and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) as thermosensitive outer shell. The fabricated nanoparticles were characterized and investigated for the adsorption of four phenolic compounds, including bisphenol A (BPA), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), 4-tert-octylphenol (4-OP) and 4-n-nonylphenol (4-NP). The experimental results demonstrated that the excellent adsorption rates were attributed to hydrophobic effect, hydrogen-bonding interaction, and electrostatic attraction. The adsorption process followed pseudo-second-order kinetics model and nonlinear isotherms, indicating heterogeneous adsorption process. The adsorption efficiency of 4-NP using Fe@SiO2@PNIPAM was more than 90% under optimized condition within 2 h. The determined maximum adsorption amounts of BPA, TBBPA, 4-OP and 4-NP were 2.43, 6.83, 24.75, and 49.34 mg g-1, respectively. Meanwhile, a magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) method with Fe@SiO2@PNIPAM was established to determine these four compounds simultaneously. Under the optimal conditions, the linearity ranges were in the range of 2-200, 2-300, 2-100 and 2-100 μg L-1 for BPA, 4-OP, TBBPA, and 4-NP, respectively, and the detection limits were in the range of 0.58-0.76 μg L-1, respectively. The applicability of the proposed method was evaluated by analyzing three fresh water samples, and satisfactory spiked recoveries in the range 70.9-119.9% were achieved. It was proved that these adsorbents could be easily collected and recycled owing to the appropriate magnetism. The results also demonstrated that the as-prepared adsorbents had promising potential in the enrichment and analysis of detrimental organic pollutants from water.

Keywords: Adsorption; Fe@SiO(2)@PNIPAM; MSPE-HPLC; Nanoscale zerovalent iron; Phenols.

MeSH terms

  • Acrylic Resins / chemistry
  • Adsorption*
  • Benzhydryl Compounds / analysis
  • Benzhydryl Compounds / isolation & purification
  • Iron / chemistry
  • Kinetics
  • Magnetics*
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Phenols / analysis*
  • Phenols / isolation & purification
  • Polybrominated Biphenyls / analysis
  • Polybrominated Biphenyls / isolation & purification
  • Silicon Dioxide / chemistry*
  • Solid Phase Extraction / methods
  • Water / chemistry
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / isolation & purification

Substances

  • Acrylic Resins
  • Benzhydryl Compounds
  • Phenols
  • Polybrominated Biphenyls
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Water
  • poly-N-isopropylacrylamide
  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Iron
  • tetrabromobisphenol A
  • 4-nonylphenol
  • 4-tert-octylphenol
  • bisphenol A