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A Systematic Analysis and Review of the Fundamental Acid-Base Properties of Biosorbents

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Part of the book series: Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World ((ECSW,volume 18))

Abstract

A broad variety of materials of biological origin have been successfully used in recent decades for the removal of pollutants from solution. These biosorbents present a range of natural polymers that play a key role on their adsorption capacity. It is therefore critical to understand the physicochemical properties of the chemical groups that form these polymers. According to bibliography, less than 3% of biosorption papers include studies on proton binding. The acid-base properties of biomass are affected by pH, ionic strength and medium composition. Nevertheless, these crucial parameters are not always considered during biosorption studies. This review outlines the major advances on proton binding data interpretation and modelling on biosorbents. In addition, we propose some experimental considerations that cover all issues raised in this review concerning the acid-base properties of biosorbents. Only 30% of the reviewed papers that study algae, agricultural wastes or lignocellulosic materials use Donnan or double-layer surface models to account for electrostatic interactions on proton binding. Expressions for activity coefficients, such as Debye-Hückel or Pitzer equations, are shown only in c.a. 15% of these papers. Moreover, studies investigating a range of ionic strengths represent a 40%, while this variable is not even considered in 20% of the papers. We could not find any biosorption study related to specific salt or Hofmeister effects. Moreover, in 6 out of 10 papers there is important experimental information missing such as the calibration of the electrodes. We consider therefore that there is an important need for reviewing the role of proton binding on biosorption studies.

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Abbreviations

A :

Specific surface area

CA:

Condensation approximation

Ca :

Concentration of acid solution

CA :

Total concentration of acidic sites in a biosorbent

c ± :

Ionic distribution at an interface

E* :

Formal potential

emf, E:

Electromotive force

EXAFS:

Extended X-ray absorption fine structure

F:

Faraday constant, 96485.34 C mol−1

f :

Weighted sum of local isotherms

FTIR:

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

(H +)0 :

Local proton ion activity at the binding site, e.g. surface proton ion activity

[H +]0 :

Proton ion concentration at the local binding site

(H +):

Experimental accessible bulk activity of the proton ion

I :

Ionic strength

K :

Stoichiometric proton dissociation constant

K app :

Apparent conditional dissociation constant

K int :

Intrinsic dissociation constant

K T :

Thermodynamic proton dissociation constant

LFER:

Linear free energy relationships

MSA:

Mean spherical approximation

NICA:

Non-ideal competitive and thermodynamically consistent adsorption

NMR:

Nuclear magnetic resonance

NOM:

Natural organic matter

pK m :

Empirical, ionic strength dependent pK

p(K):

Affinity spectrum

pzc:

Potential of zero charge

Q:

Charge of a species net charge

Q(γ i ):

Ratio of activity coefficients of the species in the equilibrium

SCM:

Surface complexation model

SIT:

Specific interaction theory

U ± :

Dispersion-dependent energy term

v :

Volume added in a titration

V D :

Active Donnan volume

V0 :

Initial volume

WHAM:

Windermere humic aqueous model

XANES:

X-ray absorption near edge structure

X i :

Co-ions and counterions

z i :

Charge of a species

α :

Degree of dissociation

γ ± :

Mean ionic activity coefficient

γ eff :

Effective activity coefficient

γ i :

Activity coefficient of species i

ΔG :

Gibbs free energy

ΔG AB :

Lewis acid-base contribution to Gibbs energy

ΔG ads :

Gibbs free energy of adsorption

ΔG diss :

Gibbs free energy in a dissociation equilibrium

ΔG elec :

Electrostatic Gibbs free energy

ΔG int :

Intrinsic Gibbs free energy

ΔG LW :

Lifshitz-van der Waals contribution to Gibbs energy

ΔG non − elec :

Non-electrostatic Gibbs free energy

θ :

Coverage fraction of binding sites

ρ 0 :

Charge in the region occupied by the biosorbent in the absence of mobile ions

σ :

Charge density

Ψ:

Electrostatic potential

Ψ0 :

Electrostatic potential at the binding site

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Correspondence to Manuel E. Sastre de Vicente .

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Lodeiro, P. et al. (2018). A Systematic Analysis and Review of the Fundamental Acid-Base Properties of Biosorbents. In: Crini, G., Lichtfouse, E. (eds) Green Adsorbents for Pollutant Removal. Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World, vol 18. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92111-2_3

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