Abstract

It is essential and important to determine the adsorption mechanism as well as removal efficiency when using an adsorption technique to remove toxic heavy metals from wastewater. In this research, the removal efficiency and mechanism of chromium removal by a silica-based nanoparticle were investigated. A PEI-silica nanoparticle was synthesized by a one-pot technique and exhibited uniformly well-dispersed PEI polymers in silica particles. The adsorption capacity of chromium ions was determined by a batch adsorption test, with the PEI-silica nanoparticle having a value of 183.7 mg/g and monolayer sorption. Adsorption of chromium ions was affected by the solution pH and altered the nanoparticle surface chemically. First principles calculations of the adsorption energies for the relevant adsorption configurations and XPS peaks of Cr and N showed that Cr(VI), [HCrO4]− is reduced to two species, Cr(III), CrOH2+ and Cr3+, by an amine group and that Cr(III) and Cr(VI) ions are adsorbed on different functional groups, oxidized N and NH3+.

Details

Title
Chromium removal from aqueous solution by a PEI-silica nanocomposite
Author
Choi, Keunsu 1 ; Lee, Soonjae 2 ; Park, Jin Ock 3 ; Jeong-Ann Park 4 ; So-Hye Cho 5 ; Seung Yong Lee 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Lee, Jun Hee 1 ; Jae-Woo, Choi 6 

1  School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of Korea 
2  Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea 
3  Materials Architecturing Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea 
4  Center for Water Resource Cycle Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea 
5  Materials Architecturing Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Division of Nano & Information Technology, KIST School, Korea University of Science and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea 
6  Center for Water Resource Cycle Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Division of Energy & Environment Technology, KIST School, Korea University of Science and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea 
Pages
1-10
Publication year
2018
Publication date
Jan 2018
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20017-9
ProQuest document ID
1990474449
Copyright
© 2018. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.