Immobilization of TBBPA on Pyrogenic Carbon subjected to Natural Organic Matters and Freeze-Thawing Conditions: Insight into Surface Functionalization, Coverage Process and Binding Affinity

The long-term environmental effects of pyrogenic carbon have recently drawn many concerns in terms of the fate and transport of emerging pollutants. This study explored surface changes of geometric structure, functional group, and site-energy distribution at pyrogenic carbon surface throughout a long-term physical aging process. Through synchrotron-based FTIR analysis, the homo-functionalization process was found to be the results of the consolidation of oxygen-containing groups with aromatic structure and the antagonization of other active hydroxyl groups on surface formation. The kinetic studies of TBBPA immobilization on pyrogenic carbon surface revealed a coverage process where TBBPA-humic acid, pyrogenic carbon-humic acid and pyrogenic carbon-TBBPA interactions can be formed. The isotherm analysis further indicated that the coverage process of natural organic matters (NOMs) can enhance the processes of multilayer adsorption and thermodynamic alteration. Moreover, the results exhibited that site energies were seized by O=C-OH…O=C-OH hydrogen bonds from NOMs linkage, and O-H…O-H hydrogen bonds for TBBPA interactions were weaken by NOMs coverage. Understanding such TBBPA interactions on carbonaceous porous material will not only enrich the understanding of the transport of ionic pollutants under complex environmental conditions, but also support the evaluation of long-term environmental impacts of both naturally and artificially produced pyrogenic carbons.