Efficient preparation of adsorption beds from polycarbonate and cotton fabric wastes: removal of nitroaromatic pollutants from water

The pollution of the environment with explosives and their decomposition products, particularly resulting from armed conflicts and intensive mining activities, poses a serious problem nowadays. In this work, the properties of a novel and environmentally neutral adsorbent were investigated, which was used further to remove nitroaromatic explosives from wastewater. The adsorbent was prepared in a straightforward way from waste raw materials by applying a composite of polycarbonate and fumed silica to cotton fabric. On both laboratory and bench scale (flow system with recirculation), a new bed demonstrated high efficiency for removal of nitroaromatics from water, exceeding 90% for trinitrotoluene (TNT). It was also confirmed that the bed is suitable for removing explosive substances from real river water. The sorption properties of the material were related to its characteristics obtained using spectroscopic, microscopic, and thermal analysis, nitrogen adsorption, and adsorption kinetics and isotherms.