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Macroscopic and microscopic investigation of adsorption mechanisms of phenanthrene and its derivatives on
Jiyuan He1, Jia Long1, Renjie Yang1
1College of Engineering and Technology, Tianjin Agricultural University, 22 Jinjing Road, Tianjin 300384, China.
Abstract:
To investigate the adsorption behavior and molecular mechanisms of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) microplastics (MPs) toward phenanthrene (PHE) and its four derivatives: PHE-CH3, PHE-CHO, PHECl, and PHE-NO2, the adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and interaction mechanisms of the above five target pollutants were systematically studied and compared by macroscopic adsorption experiments combined with microscopic spectral technology. The results showed that the adsorption capacity of PAN for the target pollutants follows the order: PHE-NO2 > PHE-Cl > PHE-CH3 > PHE-CHO > PHE, and the adsorption process reached equilibrium within 8 h. Kinetic and isotherm models further revealed that the type of derivatives had a significant impact on the adsorption behavior: PHE, PHE-CHO, PHECl, and PHE-NO2 were mainly adsorbed through chemical adsorption, while the adsorption of PHE-CH3 was dominated primarily by physical diffusion. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopic analyses revealed that different derivatives regulated intermolecular forces such as hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding, and π-π stacking, thereby governing the adsorption pathways and efficiency. This study provides theoretical insights at the mechanistic level for understanding the combined pollution behavior of MPs and PHE and its derivatives, offering important reference value for ecological risk assessment.
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