Removal of persistent organic pollutants from micro-polluted drinking water by triolein embedded absorbent

Abstract

a b s t r a c tA new biomimetic absorbent, cellulose acetate (CA) embedded with triolein (CA-triolein), was prepared and applied for the removal of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from micro-polluted aqueous solution. The comparison of CA-triolein, CA and granular activated carbon (GAC) for dieldrin removal was investigated. Results showed that CA-triolein absorbent gave a lowest residual concentration after 24 h although GAC had high removal rate in the first 4 h adsorption. Then the removal efficiency of mixed POPs (e.g. aldrin, dieldrin, endrin and heptachlor epoxide), absorption isotherm, absorbent regeneration and initial column experiments of CA-triolein were studied in detail. The linear absorption isotherm and the independent absorption in binary isotherm indicated that the selected POPs are mainly absorbed onto CA-triolein absorbent by a partition mechanism. The absorption constant, K, was closely related to the hydrophobic property of the compound. Thermodynamic calculations showed that the absorption was spontaneous, with a high affinity and the absorption was an endothermic reaction. Rinsing with hexane the CA-triolein absorbent can be regenerated after absorption of POPs. No significant decrease in the dieldrin removal efficiency was observed even when the absorption-regeneration process was repeated for five times. The results of initial column experiments showed that the CA-triolein absorbent did not reach the breakthrough point at a breakthrough empty-bed volume (BV) of 3200 when the influent concentration was 1-1.5 lg/L and the empty-bed contact time (EBCT) was 20 min.

Biomimetic Adsorbents: Enrichment of Trace Amounts of Organic Contaminants (TAOCs) in Aqueous Solution

“…According to the principle of similarity and intermiscibility, triolein has a strong absorbability for trace level of hydrophobic organic pollutants. Previous studies Liu et al, 2009;Huo et al, 2005;Ru et al, 2007;Qu, 2008) showed the preparation of a biomimetic adsorbent by embedding triolein into cellulose acetate (CA) spheres. The section structure is shown in Fig.…”

Determination of Insecticide Residues in Vegetal Fruits

“…They are characterized by pronounced persistence against chemical/biological degradation, high environmental mobility, strong tendency for bioaccumulation in human and animal tissues, and significant impacts on human health and the environment, even at extremely low concentrations [1].…”

Rapid Determination of Residual Pesticides and Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons in Different Environmental Samples by HPLC

“…Therefore, the effects of these ubiquitous compounds are not only limited to human but are extended to environment (Anwar et al, 2011). Due to their chemical properties, they pose significant impact on human health and environment even at low concentrations (Liu et al, 2009). Pesticides when released into the environment have different environmental fate as they may fall into different environmental compartments such as in air, soil or water.…”