Elsevier

Chemosphere

Volume 276, August 2021, 130088
Chemosphere

Comparison of lead(II) ions accumulation and bioavailability on the montmorillonite and kaolinite surfaces in the presence of polyacrylamide soil flocculant

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130088Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Polyacrylamide flocculant impact on Pb(II) adsorption on soil mineral surface was studied.

  • Effects of Pb(II) concentration, polymeric groups content and mineral type were examined.

  • Desorption degree of Pb(II) (bioavailability) using water and EDTA was determined.

  • Accumulation of heavy metal ions by polyacrylamide adsorption layers was confirmed.

  • Montmorillonite shows significantly higher tendency for Pb(II) immobilization than kaolinite.

Abstract

Heavy metals, such as Pb(II), Cd(II), Hg(II), do not degrade like organic compounds and remain in soil for a long time. The presence of organic, mineral or polymeric substances (such as polyacrylamides) may contribute to the accumulation and immobilization of toxic metals in poorly absorbable form for living organisms. The main aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of lead(II) ions immobilization on the layered aluminosilicate surfaces in the anionic polyacrylamide presence. The effectiveness of Pb(II) adsorption was tested depending on metal cation concentration, content of dissociable groups in added flocculant as well as internal structure of clay mineral. The desorption tests of heavy metal ions were performed by the use of water and EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid). By means of measurements of suspension stability and aggregate size formed in the studied systems, the flocculating ability of anionic polyacrylamide was checked. The electrokinetic parameters of mineral particles, i.e. surface charge density and electrokinetic potential, without and with individual adsorbates were also determined. It has been shown that the Pb cations adsorbed amount and the effectiveness of their immobilization strongly depends on the polyacrylamide presence in the system and the internal structure of aluminosilicate.

Introduction

Soil contamination with heavy metals has highly dangerous, delayed effects from the point of view of environmental ecotoxicology (Wanees et al., 2012; Kowalski, 1994; Rao and Kashifuddin, 2016). Due to the adsorptive and buffering properties of soils, heavy metals may be strongly accumulated in such environment (Fiajłkowska et al., 2021). In many cases heavy elements, such as Pb(II), Cd(II), Hg(II), are degraded neither chemically nor biologically (Abdel Salam et al., 2011; Meena et al., 2008; Gorzin and Abadi, 2018). However, the change in heavy metals occurrence in the environment can occur as a result of complex physicochemical and biological processes. These processes influence the form of toxic elements and determine their mobility and bioavailability in the soil-plant-human system (Szewczuk-Karpisz et al., 2020). The risk of heavy metals entering the trophic chain depends on the physicochemical soil properties as well as climate conditions (Lu et al., 2018; Krauth et al., 2008; Tejada et al., 2013; Liu et al., 2017; Singh and Kalamdhad, 2011). By binding heavy metals with organic/inorganic soil components their bioavailability in the soil environment may be reduced significantly (Król et al., 2020). Clay mineral fraction with a grain diameter below 0.002 mm is characterized by high ability to heavy metals adsorption (Tang et al., 2009; Sari and Tuzen, 2007; Unlu and Ersoz, 2006; Li et al., 2007, Lin and Yuang, 2002; Rao and Kashifuddin, 2016). Iron, manganese and aluminum hydroxides also play an important role in the immobilization of toxic elements in the subsoil (Cappuyns et et al., 2014). The form of metals and their tendency to adsorption are mainly influenced by: pH value, sorption capacity, oxidation-reduction potential, soil granulometric composition, concentration of macro- and microelements, activity of microorganisms and humidity. All these factors also determine the amount of metallic elements accumulated in the biological material (Lu et al., 2018; Krauth et al., 2008; Bolto and Gregory, 2007; Violante et al., 2010).

The immobilization of metallic elements prevents toxic metal bioaccumulation in the ecosystem and, in this way, minimizes their threat human health and life (Abdel Salam et al., 2011; Unuabonah et al., 2007, Cavaco et al., 2007). In order to limit the mobility of heavy metals in the soil environment, organic and mineral substances are introduced into the soil, e.g. composts from municipal waste, biochar, sewage sludge, peat, diatomaceous earth, phosphorus and calcium compounds (fertilizers), lime, and ash from coal combustion, dusts from the cement industry, coal sludge, organic-mineral fertilizers based on liginite as well as polyelectrolytes e.g. polyacrylamide (PAM), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) (Bech et al., 2014; Al-Abed et al., 2003; Tomczyk et al., 2020; Fijałkowska et al., 2020). Macromolecular compounds can contribute to clear immobilization of toxic metals and in this way reduce their absorption by living organisms. Polymers can also affect the aggregation of compounds of soil solid phase (Adachi, 2019; Bech et al., 2014; Cochrane et al., 2005; Lu et al., 2016; Bolto and Gregory, 2007; Spalla, 2002).

Taking the above into consideration the adsorption-desorption properties in the suspensions containing: (1) soil minerals (montmorillonite or kaolinite), (2) polyacrylamide soil flocculant of anionic character and (3) hazardous Pb(II) ions were determined in the present paper. Such studies enable not only description of binding mechanism in the complex mineral-polymer-heavy metal systems (what is poorly described in the literature), but also determination the effectiveness of lead ions immobilization (and thus their bioavailability) in the examined suspensions. The detailed directions of research leading to this goal realization were as follows: (1) determination and comparison of adsorbed amounts of Pb(II) and PAM in the presence of the second adsorbate on the surfaces of both examined soil minerals; (2) specification of the adsorption layers influence on the aggregation tendency in the examined suspensions; (3) description of the structure of electrical double layers formed in the tested systems and (4) determination of the desorption abilities of heavy metal ions by the use of water and EDTA from the mineral surface without and covered with PAM.

Section snippets

Experimental

Two adsorbents belonging to the group of aluminosilicates - montmorillonite and kaolinite (delivered by Sigma-Aldrich) were used in the study. Montmorillonite is a 2:1 clay mineral composed of one alumina octahedral sheet sandwiched between two silica tetrahedral sheets which form packages bonded through van der Waals forces (Gregory and Barany, 2011; Krupskaya et al., 2017; Kurleto, 2015). The octahedron corners are planted with Al3+ (2/3 of all positions) and Mg2+ (1/3 of positions) cations.

Results and discussion

The comparison of lead(II) ions adsorbed amount (Γ) on studied aluminosilicates is presented on Fig. 1. According to the obtained data, lead(II) ions have stronger affinity for montmorillonite surface than kaolinite one. The Pb adsorbed amount on montmorillonite, for heavy metal initial concentrations 1, 10 and 100 ppm, equals: 2.3, 11.7 and 53.7 mg/g, whereas for kaolinite the Γ parameter is equal to 0.08, 0.72 and 7.11 mg/g, respectively. What is more, the increase in heavy metal initial

Conclusions

Based on the adsorption, desorption, electrokinetic and stability measurements results and data analysis, the following conclusions can be formulated:

  • 1.

    Greater adsorption of anionic polyacrylamide and Pb(II) ions is observed in the case of montmorillonite due to the presence of interlayered space in its internal structure where ion-exchange occurs resulting in expansion of space between packages and intercalation phenomenon.

  • 2.

    Adsorbed polyacrylamide macromolecules affect the modification of

Author contribution

Gracja Fijałkowska: Writing – original draft, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Małgorzata Wiśniewska: Writing- Reviewing and Editing, Resources, Supervision, Katarzyna Szewczuk-Karpisz: Formal analysis, Writing- Reviewing and Editing, Katarzyna Jędruchniewicz: Investigation, Methodology, Patryk Oleszczuk: Conceptualization, Investigation, Resources.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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