Department of Environmental Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Chungdae-ro 1, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea.
Mineral Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), Daejeon, 34132, Republic of Korea.
Chemosphere. 2021 Sep;278:130288. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130288. Epub 2021 Mar 15.
Heavy metal contamination in wastewater is a serious problem due to its high toxicity. In this study, three-dimensional porous and flexible polyethylene imine grafted cellulose nanofibril aerogel (PEI@CNF aerogel) is synthesized as a highly efficient biosorbent for continuous treatment of wastewater containing copper (Cu). The synthesized PEI@CNF aerogel efficiently separates Cu from wastewater and exhibits outstanding selectivity for Cu in the presence of other metal ions. The amine groups in polyethylene imine (PEI) grafted onto the porous cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) scaffold form chelates with Cu thereby effectively adsorbing Cu. The combination of a flexible CNF scaffold and rigid PEI results in a durable elastic matrix of the aerogel providing excellent wet stability, shape recovery property and recycle ability of PEI@CNF aerogel. Finally, in the column test, the PEI@CNF aerogel treats 88 bed volumes of wastewater containing Cu(∼20 mg/L). This result demonstrates that PEI@CNF aerogels are practically viable and highly efficient bio-sorbents for the treatment of wastewater containing Cu.
重金属污染废水是一个严重的问题，因为它的高毒性。在这项研究中，三维多孔和灵活的聚乙烯亚胺接枝纤维素纳米纤维气凝胶（PEI@CNF 气凝胶）被合成作为一种高效的生物吸附剂，用于连续处理含铜（Cu）的废水。合成的 PEI@CNF 气凝胶能有效地从废水中分离 Cu，并在存在其他金属离子的情况下表现出对 Cu 的出色选择性。接枝在多孔纤维素纳米纤维（CNFs）支架上的聚乙烯亚胺（PEI）中的胺基与 Cu 形成螯合物，从而有效地吸附 Cu。柔性 CNF 支架与刚性 PEI 的结合形成了气凝胶的耐用弹性基质，提供了优异的湿稳定性、形状恢复性能和 PEI@CNF 气凝胶的可回收性。最后，在柱试验中，PEI@CNF 气凝胶处理了 88 床体积的含 Cu（约 20mg/L）废水。这一结果表明，PEI@CNF 气凝胶是处理含 Cu 废水的实际可行和高效生物吸附剂。
