Preparation of cationized pine sawdust for nitrate removal: Optimization of reaction conditions

Anion exchange materials were prepared from pine sawdust (Pinus sylvestris, PSD) through cationizing treatment with N-(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride (CHMAC) in the presence of NaOH. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to find the optimal reaction conditions. Three factors were chosen: reaction temperature (26-94 °C), reaction time (0.32-3.7 h) and NaOH/CHMAC molar ratio (0.19-2.2). Product yield (%) was used as a response. A quadratic model was fitted to the experimental data. The optimal conditions were: a reaction temperature of 57 °C, a reaction time of 1.8 h and a NaOH/CHMAC molar ratio of 1.32. A maximum nitrogen content of 2.6% was obtained at 60 °C, 3.7 h and a molar ratio of 1.2. The molar ratio had the greatest impact on the response. Regression analysis revealed that over 95% of the variance can be explained by the model. A maximum nitrate sorption capacity of 15.3 ± 1.4 mg N/g was achieved. The effect of CHMAC dose was also studied (a NaOH/CHMAC molar ratio of 1.2): 0.064 mol/g PSD was found to be near the optimum. Nitrate-contaminated groundwater (27.5 mg/l NO3) was treated with CPSD. Doses of 3-6 g/l resulted in 59-71% nitrate reduction.