Adsorption of phenanthrene on typical nanoparticles in aquatic system

Phenanthrene was chosen as a probe PAH, and its sorption on typical nanoparticles (NPs) in aquatic system was investigated. The results showed that the Freundlich isotherms fit to the experimental sorption data best for all the NPs. Among all the NPs, the organo-bentonite and carbon black showed relatively high sorption capacities of phenanthrene. Organo-bentonite sorption isotherm appeared linear (n=1.08), while carbon black showed a significant nonlinear sorption characteristics (n<0.5) with their nonlinearity increasing with the increasing sorption capacities. All of other NPs showed nonlinear sorption (n<0.9). The sorption capacities showed no significant correlation with zeta-potential, particle sizes and BET of all the NPs, inferring complex factors that determine the sorption of PAHs to NPs. We considered that chemical composition of each adsorbent could be one of the major factors that controlled its sorption behavior in the aquatic system.