Removal of trivalent chromium ions in model contaminated groundwater using hexagonal boron nitride as an adsorbent

Byung Moon Jun, Deokhwan Kim, Jaegwan Shin, Kangmin Chon, Chanhyuk Park, Hojung Rho

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The feasibility of using hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) to treat heavy metal Cr(III) from model contaminated groundwater was evaluated in this study by adsorption experiments and characterizations. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to conduct the adsorption of Cr(III) by h-BN under various experimental conditions such as exposure time, ratio of adsorbates and adsorbents, solution pH, background ions with different ionic strength, and the presence of humic acids (HA) in model contaminated groundwater. The optimized h-BN showed excellent maximum adsorption capacity (i.e., 177 mg ∙ g−1) when the concentrations of Cr(III) and h-BN were 10 and 10 mg ∙ L−1, respectively. Subsequently, we confirmed there was a negligible change in the adsorption performance of Cr(III) by h-BN in the presence of co-ions (i.e., K and Mg) in concentrations in a range from 50 to 1000 mg ∙ L−1. Furthermore, the adsorption performance of Cr(III) gradually improved with HA concentrations from 2.5 to 25 mg ∙ L−1. Interestingly, the maximum adsorption performance of Cr(III) by both HA and h-BN increased until 500 mg ∙ g−1 in the presence of 25 mg ∙ L−1 HA. The adsorption mechanism was clarified by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Additionally, we successfully confirmed that h-BN could be reused until five cycles. On the basis of the adsorption performance results and characterizations, h-BN can be utilized as an efficient and practical adsorbent to treat Cr(III) in groundwater treatment.

Original languageEnglish
Article number142539
JournalChemosphere
Volume361
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024

Keywords

  • Boron nitride
  • Chromium adsorption
  • Groundwater
  • Water treatment

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Removal of trivalent chromium ions in model contaminated groundwater using hexagonal boron nitride as an adsorbent'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this