Fast Removal of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers from Aqueous Solutions by Using Low-Cost Adsorbents

Abstract

4-Dibromodiphenyl ether (BDE-3) and 4,4 -dibromodiphenyl ether (BDE-15) are two of the major polybrominated diphenyl ethers used as flame-retardant additives in computer main boards and in fireproof building materials. In this study, we evaluated the potential of three low-cost adsorbents, black tea, green tea, and coconut palm leaf powders, to adsorb BDE-3 and BDE-15 from aqueous solutions. The results showed that pressure steam washing of the adsorbents increased their capacities to adsorb BDE-3 and BDE-15. The maximum adsorption capacities of pressure steam-washed black tea, green tea, and coconut palm leaf powders were 21.85 mg·L −1 , 14.56 mg·L −1 and 22.47 mg·L −1 , respectively. The results also showed that the adsorption equilibrium (q e ) was achieved at 4 min. Moreover, 97.8% of BDE-3 and 98.5% of BDE-15 could be removed by adsorbents pretreated with pressure steam washing. The kinetic data fitted well with a pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorption rate constants (k 2 ) of all pressure steam-washed adsorbents ranged from 8.16 × 10 −3 to 6.61 × 10 −2 g·(mg·L −1 ) −1 ·s −1 , and the amount adsorbed at q e by all pressure steam-washed adsorbents ranged from 4.21 to 4.78 mg·L −1 . Green alga Chlorella vulgaris was used as the test organism and the median effective concentration values of BDE-3 and BDE-15 were 7.24 and 3.88 mg·L −1 , respectively. After BDE-3 and BDE-15 were removed from the solution, their biotoxicities markedly decreased. These findings indicate that these low-cost adsorbents can be used to remove BDE-3 and BDE-15 from aqueous solutions and wastewater.

Characterization of Di-n-Butyl Phthalate Phytoremediation by Garden Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) through Kinetics and Proteome Analysis

“…C. vulgaris was obtained from Professor Wu of the Biodiversity Research Center (Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan). The algae were cultivated in the medium of Chang [50], and all cultures were maintained at 25 The chlorophyll a content of C. vulgaris in the hydroponic solution, before and after the phytoremediation experiments, was spectrophotometrically quantified at an absorbance of 680 and 750 nm, respectively. The median effective concentration (EC 50 ) values for the inhibition of cell growth were evaluated to determine the DBP biotoxicity to C. vulgaris.…”

SWOT analysis of agro-waste based adsorbents for persistent dye pollutants removal from wastewaters

“…Moreover, some of these treatment techniques have limited applications in many parts of developing counties where indiscriminate point source discharges of persistent organic pollutants from industries, including dyes, persist (UNESCO, 2017). However, adsorption method is generally found to be effective for the removal of recalcitrant organic pollutants, including different forms of dyes, due to its simple operating design and conditions, no sort of unwelcoming secondary wastes and low cost of operations especially when non-conventional alternative adsorbents are used (Siddiqui et al, 2019;Chang et al, 2017).…”