Transport of thiophanate methyl in porous media in the presence of titanium dioxidenanoparticles

Abstract

<p>This study investigates the transport of pesticide thiophanate methyl (TM) as well as the co-transport of TM and titanium dioxide (TiO<sub>2</sub>) nanoparticles in a water saturated column packed with quartz sand under various water conditions. Several ionic strengths (Is) (1, 10, 50 and 100 mM) and pH (3, 5, 7, 10) values were examined. The results from the transport experiments  were fitted and analyzed with the use of the ColloidFit software, while the results from cotransport experiments were fitted with a modified mathematical model of Katzourakis and Chrysikopoulos (2015). The results suggested that the lowest mass recovery rate was for the co-transport experiments with the addition of NaCl. It was shown that TM has a weak affinity for sand but a relatively strong affinity for TiO<sub>2</sub> at high Is and acidic pH. Furthermore, salinity was shown to have significant effects on TM removal.</p>