Cost-effective hybrid adsorbent facilely prepared with dye waste and calcium fluoride for adsorption of organic contaminants

Abstract

A new sorbent material, calcium fluoride-acid red 138 (AR138), was synthesized and characterized by various methods. The hybrid adsorbent for adsorption of PCBs corresponded to the octanol–water partition law, and their partition coefficients were calculated to be 5,836.8 mg kg⁻¹ for PCB029, 8,311.9 mg kg⁻¹ for PCB101, and 20,815 mg kg⁻¹ for PCB180, respectively. When the hybrid adsorbent was used in the treatment of a polluted ground water sample, the removal of PCB concentrations was satisfactory. All the reactants used in the synthesis of the adsorbent material are easily available and are harmless to the environment. Also, the AR138 reactant may reuse a concentrated AR138-producing wastewater instead. Therefore, this work has developed a simple, eco-friendly, and “waste treat waste” method for the large-scale production of a cost-effective sorbent.

Keywords:

• Hybrid sorbent
• Polychlorinated biphenyls
• Water treatment
• Adsorption

Acknowledgments

This work has been supported by the Project of Science and Technology New Star in Pearl River Guangzhou city (No. 2012J2200055), the Appropriative Researching Fund for Doctors, Guangdong Institute of Education (No. ARF012), Natural Science Key Project Fund in Guangdong University (No. 06Z027), Special Fund for Guangdong Higher School Introduced Third Batch of Talents (No. 2050205118). The authors are grateful to the projects.