Abstract
This work shows the ability of a new porous material (SUNSPACE), obtained by industrial by-products, to sequestrate air particulate matter (PM). This activity allows introducing the azure chemistry approach, devoted to better link new remediation strategies and sustainability. In particular, SUNSPACE is synthesized from silica fume and sodium alginate; it can be shaped in a porous solid, and it looks promising for environmental application as nanoparticle sequestration. Studies to evaluate the sequestration capability of SUNSPACE are performed in different environments, with and without anthropogenic sources of PM. Solid SUNSPACE disc samples are used as passive samplers and exposed for one and two months, in vertical and horizontal positions, indoor, and outdoor. Total reflection X-ray fluorescence technique is employed to perform elemental chemical analysis of the entrapped PM. Two sample preparation strategies to evaluate the composition of PM are considered: sample sonication in Milli-Q water and total sample mineralization by microwave acid digestion. These two options are proposed to analyse different PM fractions: in particular, sonication allows removing the coarse PM, entrapped on external material surface pores; on the contrary, digestion can offer information on fine and ultrafine PM, trapped in internal pores. Results confirm the ability of the porous material to sequestrate air PM and the differences in the sample preparation, supported by elemental analysis, and show the difference in the coarse and fine air particulate matter composition. In summary, the new material results as very promising for applications requiring nanoparticle sequestration.
Highlights
Air pollution is becoming an important issue worldwide
The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of the aforementioned new material to collect air particulate matter (PM), with great attentions to nanoparticles
Results obtained by Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) analysis of sonicated samples exposed in vertical and horizontal positions in the highway for two months are reported in Figure 2 in comparison with the blank, whose results are the average of three tested samples
Summary
Air pollution is becoming an important issue worldwide. The presence of solid components in air is referred to particulate matter (PM) or dust. The main sources for air PM presence in the environment are tyre emissions, vehicle exhausts, brake water, resuspension of soils, road dust [1], biomass combustion such as wood [2, 3], and pellet stoves [4]. PM identification and characterization are challenging due to several issues such as the low concentration, small particle size, and variable composition [5]. The potentially adverse health effects due to PM inhalation can be related to particle dimensions (they are often nanoparticles) and to their physicochemical characteristics, which vary significantly in urban, industrial, and rural areas [7]
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