Fast and efficient chromium(VI) extraction by colloidal Mg/Al layered double hydroxide nanoparticles

Due to the constraints associated with diffusion and mixing time, traditional kinetic and thermodynamic approaches were inadequate for probing the true mechanism of interaction between chromate and Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH). To circumvent these limitations, colloidal suspensions of Mg/Al-NO3 LDH, characterized by a positively charged surface (approximately +50 mV) in ultrapure water and a mean average diameter of 140 nm, allowing the formation of stable suspensions for days, were swiftly mixed with Cr(VI) suspensions at both pH = 4 and 9 using a stopped flow technique. This rapid mixing, accomplished in <5 milliseconds, enabled the examination of the initial stages of interaction between the toxic anion and the host compound. Two distinct steps in the adsorption process were identified: a very fast step (completed in <5 ms), representing up to 80% of the measured variation, and a slower step lasting up to 100 s. The fast step assumed to be driven by electrostatic interaction (ζ ∼ +50 mV) with the surface, and sites close to the surface are easily accessible to the chromate anions. The slower step corresponded to a diffusion process close or inside the particles. Chromate extraction efficiency was investigated through ultrafiltration tests, varying the LDH and chromate amounts, indicating that 2 nitrate ions are exchanged for 1 chromate, regardless of the pH considered, and a total exchange can be fulfilled with 0.1 g L−1 of LDH within the explored concentration range.