Systematic Investigation of the Synergistic and Antagonistic Effects on the Removal of Pyrene and Copper onto Mesoporous Silica from Aqueous Solutions
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Beijing Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Urban Sewage System Construction and Risk Control, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China
2
CRRC Environmental Science & Technology Cooperation, Beijing 100067, China
3
Key Laboratory of Urban Stormwater System and Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Materials 2019, 12(3), 546; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12030546
Received: 4 January 2019 / Revised: 1 February 2019 / Accepted: 9 February 2019 / Published: 12 February 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Horizons in Materials Engineering: The Application of Mesoporous Silica-based Materials)
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals have attracted greater attention due to their single or complex risks. It is urgent to find useful methods to remove these two pollutants together. In this study, SBA15 and MCM-41 were selected and used for the simultaneous removal of pyrene and copper from aqueous solution. Batch experiments were conducted systematically by investigating the adsorption behavior and effects including kinetics, isotherms, ionic strength and pH effects. Experimental results showed that the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order model fitted the adsorption behavior better. The solution pH values and ionic strength affected the adsorption behavior greatly. Furthermore, the synergistic or antagonistic effects could be observed on the adsorption of pyrene and copper onto MCM-41 and SBA15, respectively. The synergistic and antagonistic effects of pyrene and copper onto mesoporous silica may be attributed to the size of pyrene–copper complex and the average pore size of adsorbents. With the higher pore size, the complex would be adsorbed onto the inner surface of MCM-41 which showed synergistic effect on the adsorption of pyrene and copper. This study shows new guidelines and insight into the study of adsorption behavior of PAHs and heavy metals from aquatic environments.
Keywords:
synergistic effects; antagonistic effects; mesoporous silica; pyrene; copper