Efficient removal of aromatic sulfonates from wastewater by a recyclable polymer: 2-naphthalene sulfonate as a representative pollutant.

As a family of hydrophobic ionizable organic compounds, aromatic sulfonates can be present at high levels in industrial wastewaters. They tend to exist as anions over a wide range of pH and cannot be effectively trapped by conventional adsorbents. In the current study, a recyclable acrylic ester polymer (NDA-801) was synthesized for effective removal of aromatic sulfonates from wastewater of high acidity (e.g., pH < 1) and inorganic salts (e.g., approximately 5-10% Na2SO4 in mass), for which sodium 2-naphthalene sulfonate (2-NS) was chosen as a representative target contaminant 2-NS uptake onto NDA-801 increased with the increasing acidity of the solution. The zeta potential of NDA-801 measured at different pH levels as well as batch 2-NS adsorption from methanol/water binary systems demonstrated the favorable roles of electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction in 2-NS adsorption. As compared to a granular activated carbon GAC-1, NDA-801 exhibited much higher removal efficiency and capacity of 2-NS in fixed-bed adsorption. Moreover, the exhausted NDA-801 beads by 2-NS can be completely regenerated by water wash for repeated use, which is more economically desirable than by other regenerants, such as NaOH solution. Continuous column adsorption-regeneration cycles indicated negligible capacity loss of NDA-801 during operation and further validated its feasibility for potential application in associated wastewater treatment.