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Volume 11
Issue 12
10.3390/gels11121019
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Synergistic Effect of Aminated Sodium Alginate Composite Material on Selective Adsorption of Sb: Experimental and Density Functional Theory Study

by
Lan Yang
1,
Pingshu Wang
1,
Xin Sun
1,
Kai Li
1,
Meijie Ren
1,
Fansong Liu
1,
Fawei Tang
2,
Ping Ning
1,* and
Yimin Huang
1,*
1
Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
2
Hangzhou Yanqu Information Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 310003, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Gels 2025, 11(12), 1019; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11121019
Submission received: 11 November 2025 / Revised: 8 December 2025 / Accepted: 15 December 2025 / Published: 18 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Gel Applications)
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Abstract

Pollution by Sb, which is widely used in industry and agriculture, poses serious threats to ecosystems. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that sodium alginate (ALG) modified by polyethyleneimine (PEI) has good adsorption capacity for Sb(III) (the theoretical maximum adsorption capacity was 978 mg/g, and the actual maximum adsorption capacity was 743 mg/g) and can retain 90–98% of the initial removal rate after eight cycles of reuse. The inorganic ions and humic acid in Sb(III)-containing wastewater do not affect the adsorption capacity of PEI/ALG within a certain pH range. However, it was also found that the adsorption was interfered with by Sb(III) precipitation, phosphate ions, and some coexisting cations/metalloids such as Ni, Cd, Pb, and As under higher pH conditions, and the recovery rate of antimony in the desorption process needs to be further improved. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the -OH, -COOH, -NH2, -NH-, and -N= in PEI/ALG show strong binding with Sb (−56.85, −28.39, −17.98, −25.76, and −17.98 kcal/mol, respectively), enabling these functional groups to easily form stable composite structures with Sb(III). This characteristic enables PEI/ALG to selectively adsorb Sb(III) under certain conditions. Combining these findings with the characterization analysis results indicates that the mechanism of PEI/ALG adsorption of Sb(III) is mainly the formation of H bonds and coordination between -OH, -COOH, and Sb(III). The selective adsorption mechanism of PEI/ALG for Sb(III) has not been investigated previously, and our research results indicate the high potential of this approach.
Keywords: Sb(III) adsorption; aminated sodium alginate gel beads; DFT calculation; H bonding; complexation Sb(III) adsorption; aminated sodium alginate gel beads; DFT calculation; H bonding; complexation
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MDPI and ACS Style

Yang, L.; Wang, P.; Sun, X.; Li, K.; Ren, M.; Liu, F.; Tang, F.; Ning, P.; Huang, Y. Synergistic Effect of Aminated Sodium Alginate Composite Material on Selective Adsorption of Sb: Experimental and Density Functional Theory Study. Gels 2025, 11, 1019. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11121019

AMA Style

Yang L, Wang P, Sun X, Li K, Ren M, Liu F, Tang F, Ning P, Huang Y. Synergistic Effect of Aminated Sodium Alginate Composite Material on Selective Adsorption of Sb: Experimental and Density Functional Theory Study. Gels. 2025; 11(12):1019. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11121019

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yang, Lan, Pingshu Wang, Xin Sun, Kai Li, Meijie Ren, Fansong Liu, Fawei Tang, Ping Ning, and Yimin Huang. 2025. "Synergistic Effect of Aminated Sodium Alginate Composite Material on Selective Adsorption of Sb: Experimental and Density Functional Theory Study" Gels 11, no. 12: 1019. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11121019

APA Style

Yang, L., Wang, P., Sun, X., Li, K., Ren, M., Liu, F., Tang, F., Ning, P., & Huang, Y. (2025). Synergistic Effect of Aminated Sodium Alginate Composite Material on Selective Adsorption of Sb: Experimental and Density Functional Theory Study. Gels, 11(12), 1019. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11121019

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