Haloacetonitriles adsorption using a low-cost adsorbent derived from canvas fabric

The characteristics of canvas fabric-derived adsorbents and their removal efficiency on five haloacetronitriles (HANs) were investigated. In addition, the effect of chemical activation with ferric chloride (FeCl₃) and ferric nitrate (Fe(NO₃)₃) solutions on HANs removal efficiency was determined. The results indicated that the surface area increased from 262.51 m²/g to 577.25 and 370.83 m²/g, respectively, after being activated with FeCl₃ and Fe(NO₃)₃ solutions. Increases in surface area and pore volume had a direct impact on the effectiveness of HANs removal. As compared to the non-activated adsorbent, the activated adsorbent effectively removed five species of HANs. TCAN was highly removed by the Fe(NO₃)₃-activated adsorbent (94%) due to the presence of mesoporous pore volume after activation with Fe(NO₃)₃. On the other hand, MBAN had the lowest removal efficiency of all adsorbents in this study. The activation with FeCl₃ and Fe(NO₃)₃ showed equal removal efficiency for DCAN, BCAN, and DBAN, with percent removal higher than 50%. The hydrophilicity of HANs species affected the removal efficiency. The hydrophilicity order of five HANs species was MBAN, DCAN, BCAN, DBAN, and TCAN, respectively, which well corresponded to the obtained removal efficiency. The canvas fabric-derived adsorbents synthesized in this study were proven to be utilized as low-cost adsorbents to efficiently remove HANs from the environment. Future research will focus on the adsorption mechanism and recycling method to realize the potential for large-scale utilization.