随着工业化和城市化进程加速,重金属污染已成为全球性环境问题,其中铜离子(Cu²⁺)因其在电镀、冶金等行业的广泛应用,导致水体污染问题尤为突出[1]。过量铜离子不仅破坏水生生态系统,还会通过食物链在人体内蓄积,引发神经系统损伤和器官功能障碍。因此,去除水体中铜离子是环境领域亟待解决的难题之一[2]。目前,水体中铜离子的去除方法主要有化学沉淀法、离子交换法、吸附法、电化学法、生物修复法和膜分离等,其中吸附法因其分离效率高、成本低廉和操作简便等优势应用最为广泛 [3,4]。
吸附法的关键在于具备良好吸附性能的吸附剂。常见的吸附剂包括活性炭、蒙脱石、氧化石墨烯等[5]。然而,这些材料通常存在吸附容量低、重复使用性差以及易被污染等问题。近年来,基于生物质聚合物的水凝胶吸附材料逐渐进入人们的视野。这类材料具有原料来源广泛、生物相容性好、环保以及抗污染能力强等特点,在水体中重金属离子的吸附方面展现出巨大的应用前景 [6,7]。其中,海藻酸钠基吸附材料含有丰富的羟基和羧基官能团,这使其对重金属离子具有较高的吸附亲和力 [8]。同时,其凝胶化速度快,已成为近年来研究最多的重金属离子吸附材料之一[9,10]。尽管如此,传统的基于海藻酸钠的水凝胶存在机械强度较弱、在复杂环境中易分解等缺陷,因此研究人员常常通过物理和化学改性的方法对海藻酸钠进行改进 [11]。在这些方法中,利用聚乙烯醇、壳聚糖、聚丙烯酰胺以及纤维素对海藻酸钠进行共混改性,为开发具有理想应用性能的海藻酸钠吸附材料提供了重要思路 [12-15]。其中,纤维素作为自然界中分布最为广泛且储量丰富的天然多糖,是海藻酸钠理想的共混改性剂。
大豆乳清废水是碱溶酸沉工艺提取大豆分离蛋白过程中产生的废水 [16]。我国国内加工企业年产大豆分离蛋白50万~60万吨,全国每年的大豆乳清废水排放量达2000万~3000万吨 [17]。大豆乳清废水中含有丰富的有机物质,如大豆乳清蛋白、大豆异黄酮、大豆低聚糖等 [18]。其中,大豆乳清蛋白在乳清废水干基成分中含量最高,占干基总量的20%左右。目前,膜分离法、泡沫分离法和生物发酵转化等方法被用于大豆乳清废水的资源化 [19]。然而,由于上述方法生产成本较高或转化效率较低等原因,所以大多数企业目前仍是将大豆乳清废水排放至污水处理厂经生化法处理 [20],这样不仅造成了WSP的大量浪费,也给企业造成了很大的经济负担。所以,开发成本低廉且高效的方法用以回收再利用大豆废水中的有机物是大豆分离蛋白生产企业亟待解决的关键问题之一。
研究表明,蛋白质、低聚糖和异黄酮等有机物均具有与铜离子配位结合的特性[21-23]。基于此协同效应,本项目创新性提出将大豆乳清蛋白、异黄酮及低聚糖与纤维素/海藻酸钠基质复合构建三维微球体系。该设计不仅可实现大豆乳清废水中有机组分的资源化利用,还可通过多元活性基团的协同作用增强对Cu²⁺的螯合吸附性能。技术攻关的关键在于:如何将大豆乳清废水中的溶解态有机质高效包封于纤维素/海藻酸钠共混基质中,同时避免传统分离提纯工艺带来的高成本问题。为此,本研究突破性采用废水直接复配工艺,将大豆乳清废水作为有机相主体,与纤维素及海藻酸钠原位复合,开发新型杂化微球。现有研究普遍采用浓度梯度交联法(如CaCl₂溶液滴加成球[24]),但该工艺存在明显缺陷:高浓度Ca²⁺会引发大豆乳清蛋白的盐析现象,导致包埋效率下降及吸附性能劣化。为解决这一技术瓶颈,本研究发展酸性缓释交联技术:在预混体系中引入碳酸钙造孔剂,通过油相乙酸组分梯度扩散与CaCO₃反应,实现Ca²⁺动态可控释放 (微球合成示意图如图1所示)。这种pH响应性交联策略既保证了海藻酸钠三维网络的均匀构建,又能将废水中的有机组分完全包封于微球内部多孔结构。
图1 大豆乳清废水/海藻酸钠/纤维素复合微球合成示意图
综上所述,本研究拟分步开展以下工作:首先系统优化豆清废水辅助的纤维素/海藻酸钠杂化微球制备工艺,并借助SEM-EDX、FTIR、XPS等表征手段解析材料结构特征;其次通过单因素实验筛选Cu²⁺吸附最优参数,建立吸附动力学、等温吸附模型及热力学方程;最后,阐释多元活性位点的协同作用机制,为解决重金属污染治理提供理论支撑与技术储备。
参考文献
[1] Fan D, Peng Y, He X, et al. Recent progress on the adsorption of heavy metal ions Pb (II) and Cu (II) from wastewater[J]. Nanomaterials, 2024, 14(12): 1037.
[2] Noor A E, Fatima R, Aslam S, et al. Health risks assessment and source admeasurement of potentially dangerous heavy metals (Cu, Fe, and Ni) in rapidly growing urban settlement[J]. Environmental Research, 2024, 242: 117736.
[3] Liu Y, Wang H, Cui Y, et al. Removal of copper ions from wastewater: a review[J]. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023, 20(5): 3885.
[4] Kaur J, Sengupta P, Mukhopadhyay S. Critical review of bioadsorption on modified cellulose and removal of divalent heavy metals (Cd, Pb, and Cu)[J]. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2022, 61(5): 1921-1954.
[5] Mallik A K, Kabir S M F, Rahman F B A, et al. Cu (II) removal from wastewater using chitosan-based adsorbents: a review[J]. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 2022, 10(4): 108048.
[6] Pavithra S, Thandapani G, Sugashini S, et al. Batch adsorption studies on surface tailored chitosan/orange peel hydrogel composite for the removal of Cr (VI) and Cu (II) ions from synthetic wastewater[J]. Chemosphere, 2021, 271: 129415.
[7] Zhang W, Ou J, Wang B, et al. Efficient heavy metal removal from water by alginate-based porous nanocomposite hydrogels: The enhanced removal mechanism and influencing factor insight[J]. Journal of hazardous materials, 2021, 418: 126358.
[8] Pishnamazi M, Ghasemi S, Khosravi A, et al. Removal of Cu (ll) from industrial wastewater using poly (acrylamide-co-2-acrylamide-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid)/graphene oxide/sodium alginate hydrogel: Isotherm, kinetics, and optimization study[J]. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 2021, 42: 102144.
[9] Wu S, Guo J, Wang Y, et al. Facile preparation of magnetic sodium alginate/carboxymethyl cellulose composite hydrogel for removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solution[J]. Journal of Materials Science, 2021, 56: 13096-13107.
[10] Li J, Chen M, Yang X, et al. Preparation of a novel hydrogel of sodium alginate using rural waste bone meal for efficient adsorption of heavy metals cadmium ion[J]. Science of the Total Environment, 2023, 863: 160969.
[11] Wen Y, Xie Z, Xue S, et al. Preparation of novel polymethacryloyl hydrazone modified sodium alginate porous adsorbent with good stability and selective adsorption capacity towards metal ions[J]. Separation and Purification Technology, 2022, 303: 122184.
[12] Isawi H. Using zeolite/polyvinyl alcohol/sodium alginate nanocomposite beads for removal of some heavy metals from wastewater[J]. Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 2020, 13(6): 5691-5716.
[13] Ablouh E, Hanani Z, Eladlani N, et al. Chitosan microspheres/sodium alginate hybrid beads: an efficient green adsorbent for heavy metals removal from aqueous solutions[J]. Sustainable Environment Research, 2019, 29(1): 1-11.
[14] Zhang W, Deng Q, He Q, et al. A facile synthesis of core-shell/bead-like poly (vinyl alcohol)/alginate@ PAM with good adsorption capacity, high adaptability and stability towards Cu (Ⅱ) removal[J]. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2018, 351: 462-472.
[15] Gopinath V, Saravanan S, Al-Maleki A R, et al. A review of natural polysaccharides for drug delivery applications: Special focus on cellulose, starch and glycogen[J]. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 2018, 107: 96-108.
[16] Qian J, Wan T, Ye Y, et al. Insight into the formation mechanism of algal biofilm in soy sauce wastewater[J]. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2023, 394: 136179.
[17] 杜思琦, 王小凤, 张一凡, 等. 硬脂酸淀粉酯制备及其 Pickering 乳液稳定性研究[J]. 机械工程学报, 2023, 44(9): 1-9.
[18] Han P, Lu Q, Zhong H, et al. Recycling nutrients from soy sauce wastewater to culture value-added Spirulina maxima[J]. Algal Research, 2021, 53: 102157.
[19] Song H, Qian J, Fan L, et al. Enhancing biomass yield, nutrient removal, and decolorization from soy sauce wastewater using an algae-fungus consortium[J]. Algal Research, 2022, 68: 102878.
[20] Wang Y, Serventi L. Sustainability of dairy and soy processing: A review on wastewater recycling[J]. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2019, 237: 117821.
[21] Soragni A, Zambelli B, Mukrasch M D, et al. Structural characterization of binding of Cu (II) to tau protein[J]. Biochemistry, 2008, 47(41): 10841-10851.
[22] Dowling S, Regan F, Hughes H. The characterisation of structural and antioxidant properties of isoflavone metal chelates[J]. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 2010, 104(10): 1091-1098.
[23] Ducros V, Arnaud J, Tahiri M, et al. Influence of short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (sc-FOS) on absorption of Cu, Zn, and Se in healthy postmenopausal women[J]. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2005, 24(1): 30-37.
[24] Gao C, Liu M, Chen J, et al. Preparation and controlled degradation of oxidized sodium alginate hydrogel[J]. Polymer Degradation and Stability, 2009, 94(9): 1405-1410.