Usefulness of charge-transfer interaction between urea and vacant orbital acceptors to generate novel adsorbent material for the adsorption of pesticides from irrigation water

Abstract

In this study, the beneficiation of the charge-transfer (CT) interaction between urea and two vacant orbital acceptors (such as iron and ruthenium chlorides [FeCl3 and RuCl3, respectively]) to generate a novel adsorbent material for the adsorption of pesticides from irrigation water is reported. First, biomass-derived-carbon was obtained from consumed tea leaf waste after which then it was chemically activated by potassium hydroxide (KOH). Second, urea as a donor was reacted with two vacant orbital acceptors (FeCl3 and RuCl3); this donor–acceptor interaction yielded a RuFe2O5 composite. The resulting composite was combined with the activated carbon (AC) material by crushing the two components in a 1:10 M ratio (RuFe2O5 composite to AC material). This process generated a solid, black, homogenous RuFe2O5–AC adsorbent material, which was tested to remove four common pesticides from irrigation water. The examined pesticides were two insecticides (Acochem 25% WP and Hi Power), one herbicide (Tiller 480SL), and one fungicide (Mancosil Plus 50% WP). The effects of several variables on the adsorption performance of the synthesized adsorbent material were also examined.