Selective adsorption of nitrate in water by organosilicon quaternary ammonium salt modified derived nickel-iron layered double hydroxide: Adsorption characteristics and mechanism

Abstract

Nitrate (NO3−) is a widespread pollutant in the water environment. Due to its physicochemical properties, such as negative monovalent charge, traditional adsorption treatment processes have low selectivity for NO3− removal, resulting in low removal efficiency of NO3− by adsorbents in the presence of interfering ions. Therefore, to improve the adsorption selectivity and efficiency of NO3−. In this study, we used organosilicon quaternary modified derived nickel–iron layered double hydroxide (NiFe-MLDH/OQAS) for selective removal of NO3−. NiFe-MLDH/OQAS has a flowery globular structure, with interconnected nanosheets on the surface providing more adsorption sites for NO3−, which improves the adsorption rate and adsorption amount. What's more, the nitrate removal rate of NiFe-MLDH/OQAS only decreased by about 14.36% in the presence of the same concentration of interfering ions, and the maximum adsorption amount reached 61.05 mg/g, showing good selectivity and adsorption amount. Various characterization analyses indicate that the nitrate selectivity of NiFe-MLDH/OQAS is attributed to its unique layer spacing, as well as the abundant functional groups on the material surface. Finally, we demonstrated through experiments that NiFe-MLDH/OQAS has good cyclic regeneration ability and environmental safety. These findings demonstrate the great potential of NiFe-MLDH/OQAS for selective adsorption of NO3−.