New insights into the adsorptive characteristics of trihalomethane precursors from surface water using magnetic powdered activated carbon

Abstract

Powdered activated carbon (PAC) can effectively eliminate dissolved organic matter (DOM) as a precursor of trihalomethane (THM), but its application has raised concerns regarding its separation and the overelevated formation of brominate THM species in treated water after chlorination. Although magnetic PAC (Mag-PAC) has been proposed as an easily separable adsorbent for water treatment, its removal by Mag-PAC remains unknown. In this study, a novel Mag-PAC adsorbent for removing DOM and controlling THM formation from surface water was fabricated, evaluated using batch experiments, and compared with PAC. Our results found that Mag-PAC blended the advantages of PAC and magnetic particles, having an efficient removal performance toward DOM with an adsorption capacity of 2.84–3.69 mg-C/g and good magnetic separability of 10.15 emu/g. The iron oxide coating on the carbon matrices was predominantly distributed in the presence of crystalline goethite and magnetite structures. Chemisorption was the dominant mechanism of DOM adsorption by Mag-PAC. The sorption rate of DOM was influenced by the impregnation of iron oxide, but such impregnation did not significantly affect the DOM adsorption capacity. Aromatic DOM, humic-acid and fulvic-acid like compounds were efficiently adsorbed by the Mag-PAC. Compared with PAC, Mag-PAC exhibited a higher reduction in lifetime cancer risks from THMs through the ingestion pathway by decreasing the formation potential of trichloromethane and bromodichloromethane, which generated high unit risks among various THM species. These findings highlight the potential of Mag-PAC as an effective sorbent for DOM removal to control the formation of THM in surface water.