Adsorption of Nitrate by a Novel Polyacrylic Anion Exchange Resin from Water with Dissolved Organic Matters: Batch and Column Study

Abstract

A novel anion exchange resin AEE-3 was synthesized by N-alkylation of a weakly basic polyacrylic anion exchanger D311 with 1-bromopropane to effectively remove nitrate (NO3−-N) from aqueous solution. The related finding revealed that its adsorption isotherm obeyed the Langmuir model well, and the second-order model was more validated for the NO3−-N adsorption kinetics study. Compared to commercially-available polystyrene-based nitrate specialty resin Purolite A 520E (A520E), AEE-3 resin has a higher adsorbed amount and better regeneration performance toward NO3−-N in the existence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) using static and dynamic methods. Notably, a real secondary treated wastewater (STWW) obtained from a local municipal wastewater treatment plant was also assessed for NO3−-N removal in fixed-bed columns. Observations from this study indicated that AEE-3 could effectively remove NO3−-N from contaminated surface water.

Keywords

• nitrate
• dissolved organic matter
• ion exchange
• selectivity