Nitrates Removal from Simulated Groundwater Using Nano Zerovalent Iron Supported by Polystyrenic Gel

Oanamari Daniela Orbuleţ; Annette Madelene Dăncilă; Simona Căprărescu; Cristina Modrogan; Violeta Purcar

doi:10.3390/polym15010061

Nitrates Removal from Simulated Groundwater Using Nano Zerovalent Iron Supported by Polystyrenic Gel

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Dec 23;15(1):61. doi: 10.3390/polym15010061.

Authors

Oanamari Daniela Orbuleţ¹, Annette Madelene Dăncilă¹, Simona Căprărescu², Cristina Modrogan¹, Violeta Purcar³

Affiliations

¹ Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnologies, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Gheorghe Polizu Street, No. 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
² Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry Department, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnologies, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Gheorghe Polizu Street, No. 1-7, 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
³ National Institute for Research & Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry-ICECHIM, Splaiul Independentei No. 202, 060021 Bucharest, Romania.

Abstract

The main objectives of this present paper were to indicate the immobilization of nano zerovalent iron (nZVI) onto a polymeric material (Purolite A400) and the synthesis of the polymeric material (A400-nZVI) through sodium borohydride (NaBH4) reduction. The obtained polymeric material (A400-nZVI) was used for the nitrate ions removal from a simulated groundwater at different conditions. The polymeric materials, without and with nano zerovalent iron (A400 and A400-nZVI), were characterized trough the FTIR, SEM-EDAX, XRD, and TGA analysis. The analysis confirmed the presence of nano zerovalent iron (nZVI) onto the polymeric material (A400). The adsorption capacity of A400-nZVI, used as polymeric adsorbent, was evaluated by kinetic and thermodynamic studies. The obtained experimental results indicated that the nitrate ions reduction was fitted well by models: pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm. According to the kinetic model results, a reaction mechanism could exist in the stage of reactions. The higher value of removal nitrate (>80%) was obtained under acidic condition. The results indicated that the obtained polymeric material (A400-nZVI) can be considered as a potential polymeric adsorbent for different pollutants from groundwater and wastewater.

Keywords: Purolite A400; adsorption mechanism; adsorption studies; groundwater; nano zerovalent iron; nitrate.

Grants and funding

This work was funded by University Politehnica of Bucharest through the “National Grant” Program, UPB—GNaC 2018 ARUT. Identifier: UPB- GNaC 2018 ARUT, No. CH37-18-01, Code 32.