Removal of bromide from surface waters using silver impregnated activated carbon.

The main objectives of this study were to develop an understanding of silver impregnated activated carbon (SIAC) preparation for enhanced bromide (Br-) removal from water, and to investigate the impact of aqueous background composition on the Br- removal. Several SIACs were produced using various combinations of oxidation and silver impregnation procedures and powdered activated carbons (ACs). Regardless of the preparation procedure, SIACs showed significantly Br- uptakes than the virgin ACs. The Br- removal efficiency was affected by (i) the background water composition (e.g. Cl- and NOM competition reduced the Br- uptake), (ii) silver impregnation process (e.g. silver content, pre-oxidation of virgin AC; silver impregnation largely increased the Br- removal, and the pre-oxidation of AC prior to silver impregnation was found to be important), and (iii) AC characteristics (e.g. surface area, oxygen content; SIACs with higher silver contents and larger surface areas exhibited higher degrees of Br- removal). The Br- removal by SIAC reduced the formation of brominated THMs. Jar test results showed that coagulation did not have an impact on Br- removal by SIAC.

Effect of bead milling on chemical and physical characteristics of activated carbons pulverized to superfine sizes.

Superfine powdered activated carbon (S-PAC) is an adsorbent material with particle size between roughly 0.1-1 µm. This is about an order of magnitude smaller than conventional powdered activated carbon (PAC), typically 10-50 µm. S-PAC has been shown to outperform PAC for adsorption of various drinking water contaminants. However, variation in S-PAC production methods and limited material characterization in prior studies lead to questions of how S-PAC characteristics deviate from that of its parent PAC. In this study, a wet mill filled with 0.3-0.5 mm yttrium-stabilized zirconium oxide grinding beads was used to produce S-PAC from seven commercially available activated carbons of various source materials, including two coal types, coconut shell, and wood. Particle sizes were varied by changing the milling time, keeping mill power, batch volume, and recirculation rate constant. As expected, mean particle size decreased with longer milling. A lignite coal-based carbon had the smallest mean particle diameter at 169 nm, while the wood-based carbon had the largest at 440 nm. The wood and coconut-shell based carbons had the highest resistance to milling. Specific surface area and pore volume distributions were generally unchanged with increased milling time. Changes in the point of zero charge (pH(PZC)) and oxygen content of the milled carbons were found to correlate with an increasing specific external surface area. However, the isoelectric point (pH(IEP)), which measures only external surfaces, was unchanged with milling and also much lower in value than pH(PZC). It is likely that the outer surface is easily oxidized while internal surfaces remain largely unchanged, which results in a lower average pH as measured by pH(PZC).

Adsorption of halogenated aliphatic contaminants by graphene nanomaterials.

In this study, adsorption of ten environmentally halogenated aliphatic synthetic organic compounds (SOCs) by a pristine graphene nanosheet (GNS) and a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was examined, and their adsorption behaviors were compared with those of a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and a granular activated carbon (GAC). In addition, the impacts of background water components (i.e., natural organic matter (NOM), ionic strength (IS) and pH) on the SOC adsorption behavior were investigated. The results indicated HD3000 and SWCNT with higher microporous volumes exhibited higher adsorption capacities for the selected aliphatic SOCs than graphenes, demonstrating microporosity of carbonaceous adsorbents played an important role in the adsorption. Analysis of adsorption isotherms demonstrated that hydrophobic interactions were the dominant contributor to the adsorption of aliphatic SOCs by graphenes. However, π-π electron donor-acceptor and van der Waals interactions are likely the additional mechanisms contributing to the adsorption of aliphatic SOCs on graphenes. Among the three background solution components examined, NOM showed the most influential effect on adsorption of the selected aliphatic SOCs, while pH and ionic strength had a negligible effects. The NOM competition on aliphatic adsorption was less pronounced on graphenes than SWCNT. Overall, in terms of adsorption capacities, graphenes tested in this study did not exhibit a major advantage over SWCNT and GAC for the adsorption of aliphatic SOCs.

Mechanisms and modeling of halogenated aliphatic contaminant adsorption by carbon nanotubes.

This paper examines the adsorption of environmentally relevant halogenated aliphatic compounds using single-walled (SWCNT) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), and the development of linear solvation-energy relationships (LSER) to examine those adsorption mechanisms. The poly-parameter LSER model was also compared to those previously generated for the adsorption of aromatic compounds by CNTs. The adsorption affinity of aliphatic compounds was greater on the SWCNT than MWCNT with similar oxygen contents. This was attributed to the pore-filling mechanism that was enhanced by higher micropore volume of the SWCNT bundles over the MWCNT bundles. LSER models showed that, at higher concentrations, B (the hydrogen bond accepting ability) was the most influential descriptor for both SWCNT and MWCNT. Other important descriptors were V followed by P, both of which exhibited a positive correlation with adsorption, indicating that their size and polarizability favors adsorption. The contribution of these descriptors to overall adsorption was 2-3 times less than the B. In comparison, V was the most important descriptor in the aromatic compound LSER models. This difference indicates that adsorbate hydrophobicity greatly affects the adsorption of aromatic compounds by CNTs, whereas, aliphatic compounds are affected by both the hydrophobic driving force and other interactions.

Adsorption of synthetic organic contaminants by carbon nanotubes: a critical review.

In last ten years, a large number (80⁺) of articles regarding aqueous phase adsorption of a variety of synthetic organic compound (SOC) by CNTs were published in peer-reviewed journals. Adsorption depends upon the physicochemical properties of the adsorbates and CNTs as well as the background water chemistry. Among all properties reported in the literature, no parameter was reported as solely controlling SOC adsorption by CNTs. In this article, these contributing parameters were reviewed and the associated explanations were discussed. This comprehensive literature survey provides (i) a thorough CNT characterization summary, (ii) a discussion of adsorption mechanisms of SOCs by CNTs and (iii) a summary of the statistical adsorption model development efforts. It also includes discussions of agreements and differences in the literature, and identifies some research needs.

Adsorption of aromatic organic contaminants by graphene nanosheets: comparison with carbon nanotubes and activated carbon.

Adsorption of two synthetic organic compounds (SOCs; phenanthrene and biphenyl) by two pristine graphene nanosheets (GNS) and one graphene oxide (GO) was examined and compared with those of a coal base activated carbon (HD4000), a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT), and a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) in distilled and deionized water and in the presence of natural organic matter (NOM). Graphenes exhibited comparable or better adsorption capacities than carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and granular activated carbon (GAC) in the presence of NOM. The presence of NOM reduced the SOC uptake of all adsorbents. However, the impact of NOM on the SOC adsorption was smaller on graphenes than CNTs and activated carbons. Furthermore, the SOC with its flexible molecular structure was less impacted from NOM preloading than the SOC with planar and rigid molecular structure. The results indicated that graphenes can serve as alternative adsorbents for removing SOCs from water. However, they will also, if released to environment, adsorb organic contaminants influencing their fate and impact in the environment.

Impact of carbon nanotube morphology on phenanthrene adsorption.

The present study examined the roles of the specific surface area (SSA), diameter, and length of carbon nanotubes (CNT) on the adsorption of phenanthrene (PNT) by analyzing the adsorption isotherms obtained with several single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT). At low equilibrium concentrations (e.g., 1 ppb), MWNTs with larger outer diameters exhibited higher PNT adsorption capacity on an SSA basis than those with smaller diameters. With increasing equilibrium concentration, adsorption on an SSA basis became independent of MWNT diameter, and the total surface area controlled maximum adsorption capacity. A similar analysis for the adsorption of naphthalene, a planar molecule with one less benzene ring but 20 times higher solubility than PNT, showed no correlation with respect to MWNT outer diameter. The results indicated that the surface curvature of MWNT was more important on the adsorption of PNT than on the adsorption of naphthalene. Specific surface area normalized isotherms did not show a correlation between PNT adsorption and lengths of SWNTs and MWNTs. Characterization results indicated that the morphology of CNTs plays an important role on the SSA and pore volume. Data from the manufacturer may not always represent the characteristics of CNTs in a particular batch. Therefore, accurate characterization of CNTs is critical to systematically examine the behavior of CNTs, such as adsorption and transport, in environmental systems.

Ultrasonic pretreatment and subsequent anaerobic digestion under different operational conditions.

In this study ultrasonic pretreatment was investigated in order to improve anaerobic digestion. First, the most effective sonication time was selected during the preliminary studies conducted on waste activated sludge samples. Then the optimal time selected was confirmed running batch anaerobic reactors. In the last part of the experiments, the effect of sonication was investigated for different operational conditions of semi-continuous digesters. Preliminary studies showed 15 min of sonication increased 50 mg/L initial soluble COD concentration up to a value of 2500 mg/L. Batch anaerobic digester results indicated that the increased soluble substrate improved anaerobic biodegradability concurrently, again with the maximal improvement observed for 15 min of sonication. Results from semi-continuous reactors indicated that at SRT of 15 days and OLR of 0.5 kg/m(3) d, ultrasonic pretreatment improved the daily biogas production, methane production and volatile solids reduction significantly when compared to control system. During the operation of reactors at 7.5 days of SRT, pretreatment helped to keep the reactors working. A simple economical analysis of the system was performed using the data obtained during the laboratory study.