Environmental Advances 11 (2023) 100333

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Environmental Advances
journal homepage: www.sciencedirect.com/journal/environmental-advances

Dodecanoyl chloride modified starch particles: A candidate for the removal

of hydrocarbons and heavy metals in wastewater
Leal-Castañeda E. J． *, Meléndez-Estrada J． , Toscano-Flores L. G．
Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Sección de Posgrado e Investigación, ESIA Z, Av. Luis Enrique Erro S/N, Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos, Zacatenco, Alcaldía
Gustavo A. Madero, C.P. 07738, Ciudad de México, México

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In the last decade, global research on biodegradable materials for wastewater treatment has increased due to the
Modified starch fact that its volume has increased significantly. Native quinoa starch (NQS) and modified quinoa starch (MQS)
Biocoagulant starch with Dodecanoyl Chloride (DC) were used to obtain particles that interact with cationic molecules, oils, and
Fatty acids chloride
heavy metals such as Cd, Hg, Pb, and As due to exposure of the -OH group during esterification, thus improving
Water waste treatment
Heavy metals remotion
the interaction with divalent metal ions. With the chemical modification carried out, a greater affinity with oily
Natural coagulants agents was noted on the surface of the granule, obtaining more compact agglomerates or flocs which were more
stable than those generated with the NQS. The pH of the solution was a determining factor for the stability of the
emulsion generated, efficiency of oil removal (92%), and decrease in turbidity (98%) and chemical oxygen
demand COD (87%). The removal of heavy metals was more efficient using NQS with 85% on average for the
metals used in the synthetic wastewater, while for the NQS removal reached on average 60% compared to MQS.

Introduction
In the last decade, the investigation of biodegradable materials for
the treatment of residual waters has increased due to the fact that its
volume has increased significantly with the change in lifestyle, the
increment of the population, and the development of new industries.
Statistically, the total amount of oily wastewater in the world reached
10-15 billion m3 in 2013, and this Fig. continued to increase signifi­
cantly in recent years, together with the increase in new industries (Cai
et al., 2017). The investigation of natural coagulating materials (Nath
et al., 2021; Vargas-Solano et al., 2022) and adsorbent materials or
biodegradables has resulted in being efficient and friendly towards the
environmental medium, where they originate from plants, animals, and
microorganisms. Such proposals have displaced chemical reagents that
act as coagulants or adsorbents that generate a secondary contamination
and endanger the health of living beings consuming the treated water, or
residing in the water bodies where the treated wastewater is confined
(Li et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2021).
Various materials, such as superhydrophobic coatings, have been
developed for the treatment of wastewater affected by fuel spills (Wang
et al., 2021), sponges, polymeric membranes, and textiles; some of these
materials are environmentally friendly while others are not. Starch (a
carbohydrate present in nature) is abundant, renewable, biodegradable,
biocompatible, and inertly present in various plants as stems, roots, and
seeds for cultivation, but the proportion depends on the situation (Lawal
et al., 2019). As a result, the known chemical composition and molecular
structure very easy to modify (Namazi et al., 2011).
The chemical modification of the starches has been studied widely to
increase its hydrophobicity and improve its physical properties. We have
used different types of chemical modifications that imply the introduc­
tion of functional groups to the starch molecule. The modification of
starch is likely easily achieved due to its hydroxyl groups which have
strong bonds with various functional groups, and are susceptible to easy
chemical transformation (Nasrollahzadeh et al., 2021). The majority of
the modifications made to different types of starches have intended to
adsorb heavy metals and cationic dyes used in the textile industry,
making modifications with inorganic and organic agents such as TiO2
(Wang et al., 2018; Wang, Li et al., 2018a; Wang, Li et al., 2018b),
epichlorohydrin (Guo et al., 2019), clorosulfonic acid (Pourjavadi et al.,
2016), acrylic-acrylamide acid (Zerei et al., 2018), amines (Sharma
et al., 2017), among others. Furthermore, reports of any good results
from the remediation of contaminated effluents are cataloged as

Abbreviations: NQS, Native quinoa starch; MQS, Modified quinoa starch; DC, Dodecanoyl chloride; ZP, Zeta potential (ζ); FTIR, Fourier transform infrared; CLSM,
Confocal scanning laser microscopy.
* Corresponding author at: National Polytechnic Institute School of Engineering and Architecture Zacatenco, Mexico.
E-mail address: elealc@ipn.mx (L.-C.E. J．).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envadv.2022.100333
Received 28 July 2022; Received in revised form 27 November 2022; Accepted 12 December 2022
Available online 13 December 2022
2666-7657/© 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
L.-C.E. J． et al.
carcinogenic and other agents harmful for human health (Freyr­
e-Fonseca et al., 2015; Medina-Reyes et al., 2015). Notwithstanding,
Wang et al., 2021 reported a successful chemical modification using
waxy maize starch and polydimethylsiloxan (PDMS, dimethicone),
which is used as a binder and surfactant in the food industry, and in the
fertilizer and insecticide industry. A crosslinking between the starch and
the PDMS was generated, obtaining nanometric-sized crystals suitable
for use as a coating with superhydrophobic properties, achieving contact
angles with water of 150◦ and excellent oil and water stopping capacities
(Zhang et al., 2020).
Among the most common chemical modifications, the esterification
will occur, generally with anhydrides of acid, anhydride octenile suc­
cínico (OSA) (Bao et al., 2003; Bhosale and Singhal, 2007; Bai et al.,
2014), fatty acids of anhydride dodecenile succínico (DDSA), and
chlorides of fatty acids (Namazi et al., 2010, 2011; Gao et al., 2014;
García-Tejeda et al., 2018). The use of fatty acid chlorides to modify
different types of starch has a number of advantages compared to other
traditional modification methods, such as the use of water instead of
organic solvents as reaction medium. Reaction times are relatively short
and hydrophobically modified products can precipitate in water, and be
separated without the addition of solvents (Namazi et al., 2011). Also,
the by-products of the reaction are non-toxic (water and NaCl). Chloride
of dodecanoyl is a derivative of chloride of acids of medium chain that
has proven to be a good candidate for chemical modifications of
starches, and allows to achieve high degrees of substitution with high
yields in comparison with the rest of the chlorides of fatty acids of short
and long chain (Namazi et al., 2011; Vanmarcke, 2017). However, the U.
S. FDA has not published restrictions for the chlorine chloride of
dodecanoyl, with respect to the maximum quantity that may be used in
different food or non-food applications. Dodecanoyl chloride has been
used for the modification of alginate to which antimicrobial character­
istics have been attributed, which generates added value to the chemical
modification carried out with this type of environmentally friendly and
non-toxic chemicals, suitable for human consumption.
Therefore, the objective of this work is to evaluate the efficiency of
modified starch particles using DC for the removal of hydrocarbons and
heavy metals as well as physicochemical changes in the quality of model
wastewater. Quinoa starch particles modified with dodecanoyl chloride
were used at a concentration of 1 ml/g of starch, to be used in the
treatment of water contaminated with hydrocarbons and loaded with
cationic pollutants such as heavy metals. Quinoa worked well for this
work due to the advantage of the natural granule size and the high yield
of starch obtained in the extraction, but another source of starch with
less nutritional value could be used and similar results would be
obtained.
Materials and methods
Materials
We bought the quinoa seeds in a local market and realized the starch
extraction according to a traditional method, and later the starch was
changed in accordance with the methodology of Namazi et al. (2011).
The heavy metal mix was acquired from MERK (Mexico City, Mexico), as
were 98% pure sodium hydroxide and methanol. During this research,
we used Milli-Q® ultrapure water with a resistivity of 18.25 MΩ/cm.
Methods
Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR)
The chemical modification of quinoa starch was studied with an IR2
FTIR module equipped with an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) de­
tector, coupled to a Jobin-Yvon LabRam HR800 spectrometer (Horiba,
Kyoto, Japan). For measurements, starch samples were placed on a slide
and analyzed in the wavenumber range of 4000 to 450 m-1, with a
spectral resolution of 4 cm-1 and 36 scans per measurement, using a
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Environmental Advances 11 (2023) 100333
direct-contact attenuated total reflectance (ATR) objective.
Measurements of the particle size of starch granules and potential Z (ζ)
Zeta potential measurement in aqueous suspensions was performed
using a Zetasizer Nano ZS (Malvern Instruments Ltd., Worcestershire,
UK), and a special cell. A sample of approximately 1 mL was prepared
with a 2% solids aqueous starch solution, which was placed in a cell, and
the determination was made using the equipment.
Analysis of the flocs generated by confocal microscopy
Aliquots of 1 μL were placed on a slide and observed through the
confocal scanning laser microscopy (CLSM) (LSM 710 NL0 Carl Zeiss,
Dresden, Germany); a plan apochromat objective (63x/1.4 Oil DIC M27;
Carl Zeiss) at 60x/1.4 was used. Starch and oil were stained separately
with Nile Blue and Nile Red, respectively. After dyeing, the starch and
oil were mixed using the model wastewater that was prepared for the
study.
Model wastewater preparation
Wastewater with low oily concentrations was in the range of 50 to
100 mg/L of fats and/or oils. On the contrary, the content of fats and oils
in high concentrations varies in the range of 4000 to 6000 mg/L, which
could be generated by oil extraction and smelting (Ahmad et al., 2005).
Therefore, the strategy used in this work was to prepare synthetic oily
water of known hydrocarbon composition (Bardahl 20W-50 Sl auto­
mobile oil, USA) and heavy metals. Initially, a suspension of oil in water
with a concentration of 1 g of oil/L of water was prepared to test the
coagulating activity of the modified starch. Likewise, 1 mL of a mixture
of heavy metals (Sigma Aldrich, Dresden, Germany) was added, which is
composed of As (15 mg/L) Cd (3 mg/L) Hg (5 mg/L) and Pb (10 mg/L).
suspended in an aqueous solution of 12% nitric acid. A pedestal blender
(Hamilton Beach® Brands Inc., USA) was used with constant agitation at
16,000 rpm for 30 min at room temperature. Subsequently, the modified
starch was added at different concentrations (0.5-3 g/L), and the pH was
adjusted (3-9) with an acid or alkaline solution, depending on the
particular case. The initial chemical characteristics are shown in Table 1.
It was emulsified again using the pedestal blender for 1 min and the
starch was added, and then emulsified again for 3 min.
Sampling and analysis of water quality
Water samples were taken before and after treatment to be analyzed
and compared. All samples were analyzed for physicochemical variables
according to the procedure established in Standard Methods for the
Examination of Water and Wastewater. The pH measurement was per­
formed using a HI98194/20 digital portable multiparameter pH-meter
(Hanna Instruments, Mexico). The COD was obtained using a tabletop
photometer (Hanna Instruments, Mexico) using ISO dichromate reagent.
Turbidity was measured using a HI93703 portable turbidity meter
(Hanna Instruments, Mexico). Heavy metals were determined by atomic
absorption following the standard method of NOM-127-SSA1-1994
(Government of Mexico). Oil and fat were measured according to the
standard method of NMX-AA-005-SCFI-2013 (Government of Mexico).
To evaluate the efficacy of native and modified starch in the treat­
ment of synthetic water, the following characteristics were determined:
Table 1
Initial chemical characteristics.
Model water
pH 4-9
turbidity 198 NTU
oil 500 mg/L
COD 1524 mg/L
Heavy metals As, 20 mg/L
Cd, 20 mg/L
Hg, 10 mg/L
Pb, 50 mg/L
L.-C.E. J． et al. Environmental Advances 11 (2023) 100333

turbidity, COD, removal of fats, oils and heavy metals. The removal
efficiency (R) was calculated using Eq. 1.
Cinitial − Cfinal
% Removal = x 100 (1)
Cinitial

Jar test
Coagulation-flocculation experiments were carried out using NQS
and MQS particles. Concentrations of 0.5-3.0 mg/L of particles were
used to obtain the optimal concentration of particles at the pH that was
obtained in the preparation of the model water (7.85) for both types of
particles, through several experiments in 1L beakers. Jar testing appa­
ratus Model A50025-6 (Scorpion Scientific, Mexico City, Mexico) with
six vane rotors equipped with rectangular blades was used. Experi­
mental work beakers were filled with 800 mL of the synthetic water
sample. pH variations were made using H2SO4 (1.0 N) and NaOH (1.0
N). The experiment was carried out at a speed of 150 rpm for 3 minutes,
followed by the 30 minute sedimentation process. Finally, the presence
of two separate layers was apparent, as aqueous and solid. The super­
natant was analyzed to obtain the values of the desired quality
parameters.
Statistical analysis
Origin Pro 8 (Origin Lab, Northhampton, MA) was used to obtain the
mean and standard deviation of the water quality analyzes before and
after treatment, in addition to calculating removal percentages of heavy
metals, turbidity, and COD. Each parameter was analyzed in triplicate.
Results and discussion
Zeta potential (ζ)
Zeta potential is defined as the electrokinetic potential at the limit of
the hydrodynamic shear plane of a charged particle adjacent to a solid
surface exposed to a liquid (Wongsagonsup et al., 2005). ζ is influenced
by the pH of the solution; in this work, the zeta potential measured for
native quinoa starch at pH 7 was -26.2 mV; similarly, negative zeta
potential values have been reported for different starch sources
(Wongsagonsup et al., 2005; Li et al., 2013). The negative values of ζ in
native starches are explained by the hydroxyl groups contained in the
D-anhydroglucose unit. After esterification of quinoa starch with
dodecanoyl chloride, the ζ increased from -20.6 to -10.8 mV for NQS and
MQS. As the degree of substitution increases, the ζ increases due to the
exposed hydroxyl groups decrease, because the fatty acids bind to them
with the chemical modification (Leal-Castañeda et al., 2018). This de­
creases the concentration of the protein on the surface, and in turn in­
creases the positive charges of the hydrogens present in the fatty acid
chain (Garcia-Tejeda et al., 2018). On the contrary, Miao et al. (2014)
reported a decrease from -1.8 mV to -7.8 mV after esterification of waxy
maize starch with octenyl succinic anhydride (SD of 0.0186). A higher ζ
in the modified quinoa starch confirmed a high tendency for starch
granules to associate (see Fig. 2), which could be due to its amphiphilic
properties that are easily subjected to van der Waals and
hydrogen-bonding forces (Teh et al., 2014).
FTIR analysis
Modification with fatty acids involves the substitution of hydroxyl
groups in the amylose chain by carbonyl groups from dodecanoyl
chloride. The introduction of the carbonyl groups was confirmed by
FTIR spectroscopy. IR spectra for native starch (NQS) and modified
starch (MQS) show very similar profiles (Fig. 1). Different absorbance
signals are observed at 917, 1000, 1067, and 1158 cm-1 attributed to the
C-O bond stretches (Hui et al., 2009; Thitisomboon et al., 2018). Like­
wise, a signal is observed at 1000 cm-1 that is attributed to the C-OH
stretches corresponding to the amylose molecule; therefore this signal
Fig. 1. FTIR of a) native starch (NQS) and b) modified starch (MQS).
decreased in the modified sample (MQS). In contrast to the NQS spec­
trum, an intense signal at 1699 cm, corresponding to vibrations of the
carbonyl groups (C=O), was observed in the MQS spectrum only
(Namazi et al., 2011; Vanmarcke et al., 2017; Thitisomboon et al., 2018)
from dodecanoyl acid, confirm that the fatty substituents have been
attached directly to starch. The signal in the region of 2920 cm-1 is
attributed to the vibrations of the aliphatic C-H chains of the starch.
Subsequently, a signal close to 3293 cm-1 is observed, which corre­
sponds to the vibrations of the inter- and intramolecular hydroxyl
groups of the native starch structure (Fang et al., 2004; Song et al., 2006;
Hui et al., 2009; Vanmarcke et al., 2017; Thitisomboon et al., 2018).
Comparing both spectra, the disappearance of the characteristic band of
the hydroxyl group at 3300 cm− 1 (stretching of the single OH bond) is
observed, which confirms the efficiency of the reaction and the substi­
tution of the OH groups of the single bond by fatty. The signals at 2838
cm-1 and 2920 cm-1 are characteristic of the C-H stretches (Fang et al.,
2004; Vanmarcke et al.,2017) that increase concomitantly with the
progress of modification. These absorbances are associated with the C-H
bonds of dodecanoic acid. The absorbance of this signal is particularly
large due to the number of carbon atoms present in the fatty acid, the
intensity of these two bands increase with fatty chain length.
Analysis of the flocs generated by confocal microscopy
Fig. 2 shows the distribution of the contaminants, mainly the oil
when using the NQS and the MQS, and mixing with the model waste­
water. The blue region represents the starch granules, which were
stained with Nile Blue; and the red region represents the oily phase,
which was stained with Nile Red. The images obtained by MCBL, shown
in Fig. 2, suggest that the contaminant is covered by starch particles of
different sizes. Although it is proven that native starch is capable of
adsorbing oil, adsorption occurs through electrostatic forces, van der
Waal forces, hydrogen bonds, and chemical bonds (Singh et al., 2003).
Very often, in the case of non-ionic polymers, the main adsorption
mechanism is probably governed by hydrogen bonding between a
non-ionized part of the molecule and a functional group on the surface of
the suspended particles (Caskey and Primus, 1986). When long-chain
polymers have been adsorbed on surface particles, a series of loops
(segments extending into solution) and trains (surface adsorbed seg­
ments) are formed. As a second particle with a vacant adsorption site
contacts these extended loops and trains, a junction can occur in which a
particle-polymer-particle aggregate is formed with the polymer acting as
a bridge (Caskey and Primus, 1986; Sharma et al., 2006). As

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L.-C.E. J． et al. Environmental Advances 11 (2023) 100333

Fig. 2. Micrographs of the MCBL of mix prepared with particles and model water. NQS (1) and MQS (2). 1a) oily phase (red), 1b) NQS (blue), 1c) droplet (red and
blue). 2a) oily phase (red), 2b) NQS (blue), 2c) droplet (red and blue). Nile Red and Nile Blue were used to stain the oil phase and starch.

aforementioned, starch consists of two polymers of anhydroglucose
units, amylose and amylopectin. Amylose is a low molecular weight
linear polymer of 1,4-linked α-d-glucopyranosyl units that makes up
25% of starch, while the rest is amylopectin, a highly branched polymer
of 1-linked α-d-glucopyranosyl residues; i.e., 4 links with 1-6 links at
branch points (Biliaderis, and Galloway, 1989; Pal et al., 2005). The
source of the starch is decisive for the absorption efficiency, since the
amount of amylopectin differs from source to source (Teh et al., 2014).
However, it is necessary to use a graft with a high affinity for the oily
agent. For the MQS, the particles form aggregates, unlike with the NQS.
This aggregation phenomenon is related to the hydrophobicity of the
particles (Dickinson, 2012). It is known that particle coverage does not
have to be complete to produce stable contaminant entrapment, as long
as the layer of adsorbed particles forms a rigid network (Yusoff and
Murray, 2011; Dickinson, 2012). The difference in shades of red and
blue color between the drops coated with MQS and NQS is clearly
observed. Fig. 2-1a shows the red tone with greater intensity, corre­
sponding to the oily phase, unlike in Fig. 2-2a. And the opposite is
observed for the blue hue for Fig. 2-1b, in which the blue hue is
perceived as less intense than in Fig. 2-2b. The difference in tonalities

Fig. 3. Removal of a) oil at different concentrations of NQS (▴) and MQS (■), b) oil, c) turbidity, and d) COD at different pH values.

4
L.-C.E. J． et al.
between the sample with NQS and the sample with MQS shows that the
coverage of the MQS particles is more concentrated and compact; this
phenomenon was observed by Teh et al., 2014 when using rice starch to
remove contaminants from wastewater from the palm oil industry.
Quality analysis of water treated with MQS and NQS
Native quinoa starch is capable of removing oil and other cationic
contaminants on its own due to the exposed -OH functional groups.
However, that bond is not that strong and can be destabilized in a short
time as water begins to absorb and the granule begins to swell. The
grafting of related functional groups with oily substances would
generate a more intimate interaction between the functional groups of
the granule and the oily substance or other related particles present in
the wastewater. Fig. 3 shows the percentages of oil removal, and the
decrease in turbidity (3.92 and 67 mg/L para MQS y NQS respectively)
and COD (22.32 and 40.92 mg/L for MQS and NQS respectively) at the
different pHs tested, where better results are observed using acidic pHs
between 4 and 3. Fig. 3a shows that increasing starch concentration
favored hydrocarbon removal efficiency (65 and 105 mg/L for MQS and
NQS respectively for 3 mg/L of starch). Similar results were obtained by
Teh et al. (2014) using native rice starch alone and also mixed with
alum. Under acidic conditions, the lone pair of nitrogen electrons in
protein amino groups becomes protonated and positively charged
(NH3+), while protein carboxyl groups are neutral (COOH). At higher
pH, the magnitude of the negative charge of the protein molecules in the
NQS increases as the carboxyl groups of the protein become negatively
charged (COO), and some of the amino groups become neutral (NH2)
(Wongsagonsup et al., 2005). With similar properties, increasing the pH
would result in an increase in the electrostatic repulsion between the
particles contained in the model water used and the native and modified
quinoa starch polymer, due to a similar charge, leading to a low removal
of COD, oil turbidity, and most likely some heavy metals. Besides, NaOH
is generally used to increase the pH, which would generatereacciones
que producen hidróxido de plomo [Pb(OH)2] in the presence of iones Pb
y -OH del material bioadsorbente para pH > 8; también estos hidróxidos
tienden a precipitar, provocando una falla en el mecanismo de coagu­
lación-floculación (Vargas-Solano et al., 2022). Therefore, a lower pH
was favorable for the flocculation process using NQS and MQS (Fig. 3).
Regarding heavy metals, the model water was generated at pH 4 to
evaluate the removal of heavy metals, by testing both types of starch and
different concentrations of starch. Fig. 4 shows that the modified starch
showed greater efficiency in the removal of metals, reaching up to 87%
removal for Cd and just over 80% for the rest of the metals with final
concentrations to 2.7, 2.5, 0.73 and 10.8 mg/L for Ar, Cd, Pb and Hg
respectively, while the native starch removed up to 65%, on average for
all metals with a final concentration to 13.4, 12.7, 7.3 and 21.6 mg/L for
Ar, Cd, Pb and Hg respectively. Similar results were obtained by Cho­
que-Quispe et al. (2022) when testing a mixture of native potato starch
Fig 4. Heavy metals removal for a) NQS y b) MQS. As (●) Cd (▴) Hg (■), Pb(◆).
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Environmental Advances 11 (2023) 100333
with mucilage and glycerin. In the mixtures where starch predominated
at a pH of 4.7, heavy metal removal efficiencies of 73% for Pb were
obtained and are attributed to the high solubility of the mixture. The fact
that biopolymers have a good affinity for metals is due to the availability
of functional groups with chelating capacity (Rhazi et al., 2002; Haroon
et al., 2016), forming complexes with metal cations, or the ability to
generate ion exchange (Rani et al., 2019). In this case, the phenomenon
is attributed to the interactions between the negative charges of the
hydroxyl, carbonyl and carboxyl functional groups of starch with the
positive charges of heavy metals; causing an adsorption and removal of
heavy metals (Vargas-Solano et al., 2022). Recent research has reported
that the removal efficiency of Cd, Ni, and Pb depends on other param­
eters such as the process temperature, the dose of bioabsorbent material,
and the contact time between the bioabsorbent material and heavy
metals. Also, it has been shown that native and modified starch has also
been efficient in the removal of dyes from the textile industry (Delval
et al., 2003; Xia et al., 2020), even in microorganisms such as Escher­
ichia coli (Abdel-Aal et al., 2006) in wastewater and stormwater.
Therefore, it is not ruled out that the modification carried out in this
work works to remove dyes or some other contaminants present in the
water.
In this sense, the synthesis of biopolymers based on native and
modified starch shows a promising horizon for the removal of heavy
metals, especially in mining wastewater (Nharingo et al., 2016; Var­
gas-Solano et al., 2022).
Conclusions
The chemical modification was successfully carried out, which hel­
ped to generate greater affinity with oily agents on the surface of the
granule, obtaining more compact agglomerates or flocs which were
more stable than those generated with the NQS. The pH of the solution
was a determining factor for the stability of the emulsion generated, the
efficiency of oil removal, and the decrease in turbidity and COD. Like­
wise, a higher concentration (3 g/L) increased the efficiency of oil
removal by 93 and 80% for MQS and NQS respectively; moreover,
generated a smaller micelle and much lower limited coalescence for NQS
and MQS, while observing a more concentrated coverage for MQS
compared to NQS. The removal of heavy metals was more efficient using
the MQS in the synthetic wastewater with 93, 87, 85, and 80% for Hg,
As, Cd, Pb, respectively; while for the NQS removal reached 66, 62, 60
and 57% for Hg, As, Cd, Pb respectively. The DC-modified particles were
shown to be effective for the removal of oily contaminants or hydro­
carbons with 93 and 80% for MQS and NQS respectively at pH 4 and it is
thought that they are also capable of removing heavy and most likely
cationic dyes in the textile industry. In addition, the turbidity remotion
with 98 and 79% for MQS and NQS respectively; COD remotion was
efficient with 88 and 72% MQS and NQS respectively, both parameters
to pH 4. Finally, sludge produced by the treatment with the MQS and
L.-C.E. J． et al.
NQS particles will be of low toxicity with adequate treatment and can be
reused as fertilizers or disposed of safely on any surface.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Leal-Castañeda E. J． ．: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investi­
gation, Data curation, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Melén­
dez-Estrada J． ．: Methodology, Investigation, Data curation,
Validation, Writing – review & editing. Toscano-Flores L. G．．: Meth­
odology, Investigation, Data curation, Validation.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgments
Corresponding author Leal-Castañeda acknowledges the financial
support of SIP-20210745 project. Thanks go to the Center of Nano­
sciences and micro and nanotechnologies at IPN.
Supplementary materials
Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in
the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.envadv.2022.100333.
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