Adsorption of weak polar zearalenone mycotoxins from water environment by tourmaline mineral powder of spontaneous electrical polarization properties

Zearalenone (ZEN), a weakly polar mycotoxin that is widespread in the water environment, is difficult to remove and poses potential hazards to animal, human, and environmental health. In this study, the adsorption performance of weakly polar ZEN in the water environment was investigated in detail, focusing on the enhancement effect of spontaneous electrical polarization of tourmaline mineral powder on the adsorption process. The results showed that the tourmaline mineral powder exhibited satisfactory adsorption ability for ZEN mycotoxin from water environment, with a maximum theoretical adsorption capacity of 10.29 mg/g. The adsorption isotherm analysis illustrated that the adsorption of tourmaline powder for ZEN was monolayer adsorption, while the adsorption kinetic analysis demonstrated that chemisorption was the major interaction mode and the adsorption process of ZEN mainly occurred on the external surface of tourmaline mineral powder. The adsorption mechanism of tourmaline mineral powder for ZEN might involve the hydrogen bonding, electron donor-acceptor interaction, iron ion complexation, and electrostatic attraction. Meanwhile, the coupling enhancement effect of the spontaneous electrical polarization property of tourmaline mineral powder on the adsorption process involves adjusting the pH value of the ZEN solution from 3.0 to 12.0 to 6.05–10.38, activating water molecules to reduce the ¹⁷O NMR half-peak width of water from 124 Hz to 64 Hz, and generating an electrostatic field with 6.23 × 10⁶ V/m. This study provided a novel, green, and efficient strategy for removing weakly polar pollutants from the water environment based on the unique crystal structure and spontaneous electrical polarization properties of tourmaline mineral powder.