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Preparation and mechanism of modified quaternary amine straw for efficient nitrate removal from aqueous solution

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Abstract 

Adsorption removal of nitrate has the advantages of high efficiency, small environmental impact, and easy recovery, and has become the most potential removal method. In order to further improve the removal efficiency of nitrate in aqueous solution, modified quaternary amine straw were successfully prepared by using alkali pretreatment, epichlorohydrin as etherifying agent, ethylenediamine as crosslinking agent, and trimethylamine as grafting agent. Also, the main preparation conditions were optimized by Box–Behnken Design (BBD). The results showed that the nitrate adsorption process conforms to the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order kinetic models, and the adsorption capacity is 87.53 mg·g−1, which is 24.91–49.03% higher than the current mainstream materials; when the pH of aqueous solution is in the range of 3–11, the adsorption capacity of modified quaternary amine straw remains at 63.86–74.39 mg·g−1; the removal rate of nitrate in four kinds of wastewater by this straw is as high as 82.99–94.63%. FTIR, EDS, and XPS characterization results confirmed that the adsorption mechanism was mainly ion exchange and electrostatic attraction. This research is of great significance for the recycling of straw waste and the remediation of water environment pollution.

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Funding

The work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFD0800403), the Foundation (No. GZKF202116) of State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund (Y2022PT06), Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund (Y2022PT06, Y2021PT01), and Major Science and Technology Special Plan of Yunnan Province (202102AE090011).

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Lisheng Zhang: visualization, methodology, data curation, formal analysis, writing original draft preparation. Haixin Guo: investigation, conceptualization, methodology, data curation, formal analysis. Di Zhao: visualization, investigation, formal analysis. Shangkai Qiu: methodology, software. Mengeng Li: methodology, software. Junfeng Liang: editing. Wenjia Han: software. Luji Bo: conceptualization. Keqiang Zhang: writing—review and editing. Feng Wang: funding acquisition, project administration, supervision, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Feng Wang.

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Zhang, L., Guo, H., Zhao, D. et al. Preparation and mechanism of modified quaternary amine straw for efficient nitrate removal from aqueous solution. Biomass Conv. Bioref. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-03062-3

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