Activated carbon adsorption for removal of the nitrogenous disinfection byproduct phenylacetonitrile from drinking water

Nitrogenous disinfection by-products (N-DBPs) are more genotoxic and cytotoxic than the currently regulated carbonaceous DBPs (i.e., C-DBPs), and it has become a frontier issue of drinking water safety research. In this paper, the effect of granular activated carbon (GAC) on adsorption and its influencing factors was investigated for a typical N-DBP phenylacetonitrile, which is produced during chlorination of phenylalanine precursor during water treatment. The results showed that GAC had a high adsorption capacity (q max = 22.92 mg/g) for phenylacetonitrile, and the adsorption isotherm was fitted to the Langmuir isotherm model. Pseudo-second-order equation can well describe the behavior of phenylacetonitrile adsorption on activated carbon (R 2 > 0.990), and the adsorption rate constant k 2 = 0.7780–14.12 g/(mg h). Analysis of the influencing factors showed that higher phenylacetonitrile concentration improved the adsorption equilibrium capacity and the adsorption rate. Water temperature and pH had little effect on the capacity or rate of adsorption.