Ortiz-Mattei, María I.

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    The Synthesis and evaluation of a chitosan-humic acid composite for the removal of atrazine from aqueous solutions
    (2014) Ortiz-Mattei, María I.; Román-Velázquez, Félix R.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Perales-Pérez, Oscar; Lopez, Martha Laura; Department of Chemistry; Muñoz, Miguel
    Atrazine is an artificial organic herbicide scientifically known as 2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6- (isopropylamino)-s-triazine. It is commonly used in agriculture to control growth of unwanted weeds, by inhibiting its photosynthesis process. Atrazine shows high persistency in the environment because its chemical degradation rate is very slow. Its solubility in water at 20°C is 0.03 g/L and according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in water is 0.003 mg/L. Currently, atrazine is removed from water treatment plants using activated carbon filters. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of chitosan-HA flakes as a method for removing atrazine from water sources. A High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with a UV detector was used for the analysis of the rate of adsorption of the flakes, using concentration range of 0.10 - 1.60 mg/L. The effect of pH of the flakes was studied to optimize the adsorption of atrazine in aqueous solution. The estudy showed that the chitosan-HA flakes (6.5 pH) adsorbed more than 35 per cent of atrazine. The chitosan-HA flakes proved to be effective in adsorbing atrazine from aqueous solution, and in future works these flakes could be used to remove other organic contaminants.