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BACKGROUND Nano-titanium dioxide (nTiO2) is widely used to remove heavy metals from water. Phosphate, a common inorganic anion in the aquatic environment, can affect the adsorption characteristics of heavy metal ions on nTiO2. However, the current state of knowledge on the influences of phosphate on the adsorption behaviors of heavy metal ions onto TiO2 nanoparticles (nTiO2) is inadequate. Herein, batch adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of phosphate on the adsorption of heavy metal ions (i.e., Zn2+ and Cd2+) onto suspended nTiO2. OBJECTIVES To elucidate the primary mechanisms controlling the adsorption behaviors of Zn2+ and Cd2+ on suspended nTiO2 in the presence of phosphate under different solution chemistry conditions. METHODS In order to determine the effects of phosphate on the adsorption of heavy metal ions onto nTiO2, batch experiments were conducted by mixing background electrolyte ions, nTiO2, and phosphate, which contained various concentrations of Zn2+ or Cd2+ in 20mL-amber glass vials at room temperature. The pH of solution was adjusted to target 7.0 using 0.1mol/L HCl or 0.1mol/L NaOH accordingly. Then, the mixtures were rotated end-over-end for 24h. After equilibration, the liquid and solid phases were separated by centrifugation at 15000r/min for 20min, and then the supernatants were filtered through 0.22μm pore-size cellulose ester membrane filter (the loss of metal ions can be neglected). The concentrations of Zn2+ or Cd2+ in the filtrate were measured by an inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The adsorbed metal ions were then determined by the difference between the initial and final concentrations of metal ions in the aqueous phase. Furthermore, the classic Langmuir and Freundlich sorption models were used to correlate the adsorption isotherms. RESULTS (1) Adsorption isotherms showed that the presence of phosphate could enhance the adsorption of metal ions onto nTiO2, the maximum adsorption capacity of Zn2+ and Cd2+ increased from 121.1mg/g and 84.7mg/g to 588.3mg/g and 434.8mg/g, respectively. We propose that phosphate probably enhance the adsorption of Zn2+ and Cd2+ onto nTiO2 by the following mechanisms. Firstly, the ζ-potential of nTiO2 surface becomes more negative with the increase of phosphate concentration in aqueous phase. Consequently, the electrostatic attraction between negatively charged nanoparticles and positively charged metal ions generally increases with increasing phosphate content. Secondly, the phosphate added into nTiO2 suspension inhibits the aggregation of nanoparticles. In this case, more nTiO2 could sufficiently contact metal ions, thus increasing the adsorption sites. Thirdly, phosphate could form an inner-sphere surface complex on the nTiO2 surface, which can greatly influence the surface chemistry of nTiO2[55-57]. These products could strongly immobilize heavy metal ions[40-41]. These results might account for enhanced Zn2+ and Cd2+ adsorption on nTiO2 by forming metal-phosphate-surface ternary complexes in the presence of phosphate.(2) The adsorption of heavy metals onto nTiO2 decreased when concentration of NaCl increased from 0 to 10 mmol/L. It is likely that ionic strength can affect the attachment of nanoparticles via three major mechanisms. Firstly, the presence of competing cations (Na+) of salt reduces the adsorption of metal ions (i.e., Zn2+ and Cd2+) and this effect may have more significant roles with increasing Na+ concentration. Secondly, this could be related to the fact that an increase in ionic strength interferes with the electrostatic attraction between nTiO2 and metal ions. Thus, adsorption of metal ions is suppressed. Thirdly, increasing ionic strength significantly enhances aggregation of nTiO2, and consequently decreases the active surface sites of nTiO2.(3) The coexistence of competing anions (such as Cl-, NO3- and SO42-) weaken the enhancement effect of phosphate on the adsorption of metal ions onto nTiO2, and the order of inhibition is: SO42- >NO3->Cl-. This may be because anions with higher ionic radii (i.e., SO42-) may occupy more surface reactive sites. On the other hand, the competitive adsorption is related to the valence. It is well known that Cl- and NO3- are more likely to form "outer sphere" complexes with binding surfaces. Meanwhile, the electrostatic adsorption and the ion energy of monovalent anions (e.g., Cl- and NO3-) are weaker than those of divalent anions (e.g., SO42-). For this reason, the competitive influence of Cl- and NO3- during the adsorption of metal ions is negligible. In comparison, the divalent anion has a relatively stronger competitiveness on the adsorption of metal ions. CONCLUSIONS The research results show that phosphate can significantly enhance the removal efficiency of nTiO2 to heavy metal ions, but the removal efficiency will be affected by the water chemical conditions in the background solution. Previous studies show that nTiO2 is promising as an adsorbent for the removal of metal ions from aqueous solution. The present study demonstrates that phosphate plays an important role in adsorption of metal ions (e.g., Zn2+ and Cd2+) onto nTiO2. Phosphate significantly enhances adsorption of Zn2+ and Cd2+ onto nTiO2 by forming metal-phosphate-surface ternary complexes and increasing electrostatic attraction. The increase of ionic strength results in the low adsorption of metal ions in the presence of phosphate, resulting from electronic shielding of the negatively charged sites on the nTiO2 surface and competition between Na+ and heavy metal ions for active surface sites. Moreover, the addition of competitive anions inhibits the adsorption of metal ions in the presence of phosphate following the order of SO42->NO3->Cl-. This phenomenon is mainly ascribed to the decrease of phosphate adsorption because of competition between anions and phosphate for adsorption sites on nTiO2 surface, resulting in decreasing the amount of metal-phosphate-surface ternary complexes. Overall, the results obtained from this study indicate that the adsorption of metal ions onto nTiO2 varies greatly with factors such as phosphate, ionic strength, and competitive anions. Therefore, these factors should be well considered to better understand the fate and toxicity of metal ions in the adsorption process for the treatment of wastewater.

Low-molecular-weight aromatic acids (LWMAAs), a ubiquitous organic substance in natural systems, are important in controlling the environmental fate of potentially toxic metals. However, little is known about the effects of LWMAAs on the interactions between biochars and potentially toxic metals. Herein, the influences of three aromatic acids, including benzoic acid (BA), p-hydroxy benzoic acid (PHBA), and syringic acid (SA), on the adsorption of Cd2+ onto biochars generated at three different pyrolysis temperatures under acidic and neutral conditions were examined. Generally, the adsorption ability of biochars for Cd2+ improved with the increase of pyrolysis temperature, which was ascribed to the increased inorganic element contents (e.g., P, S, and Si) and aromaticity, increasing the complexation between mineral anions and metal ions, and the enhanced cation-π interaction. Interestingly, aromatic acids considerably inhibited the adsorption of Cd2+ onto biochars, which was mainly ascribed to multi-mechanisms, including competition of LWMAA molecules and metal ions for adsorption sites, the pore blocking effect, the weakened interaction between mineral anions and Cd2+ induced by the adsorbed aromatic acids, and the formation of water-soluble metal-aromatic acid complexes. Furthermore, the inhibitory effects of LWMAAs on Cd2+ adsorption intensively depended on the aromatic acid type and followed the order of SA > PHBA > BA. This trend was related to the differences in the physicochemical features (e.g., the octanol/water partition coefficient (log Kow) and molecular size) of diverse LMWAAs. The results of this study demonstrate that the effects of coexisting LMWAAs should not be ignored when biochars are applied in soil remediation and wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the post-COVID-19 era, extensive quantities of antipyretic drugs are being haphazardly released from households into the environment, which may pose potential risks to ecological systems and human health. Identification of the mobility behaviors of these compounds in the subsurface environment is crucial to understand the environmental fate of these common contaminants. The mobility properties of three broad-spectrum antipyretic drugs, including ibuprofen (IBF), indometacin (IMC), and acetaminophen (APAP), in porous soil media, were investigated in this study. The results showed that the mobility of the three drugs (the background electrolyte was Na+) through the soil column followed the order of APAP > IBF > IMC. The difference in the physicochemical characteristics of various antipyretic drugs (e.g., the molecular structure and hydrophobicity) could explain this trend. Unlike Na+, Ca2+ ions tended to serve as bridging agents by linking the soil grains and antipyretic molecules, leading to the relatively weak mobility behaviors of antipyretic drugs. Furthermore, for a given antipyretic drug, the antipyretic mobility was promoted when the background solution pH values were raised from 5.0 to 9.0. The phenomenon stemmed from the improved electrostatic repulsion between the dissociated species of antipyretic molecules and soil grains, as well as the weakened hydrophobic interactions between antipyretic drugs and soil organic matter. Furthermore, a two-site non-equilibrium transport model was used to estimate the mobility of antipyretic drugs. The results obtained from this work provide vital information illustrating the transport and retention of various antipyretic drugs in aquifers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]