Quantifying the influence of EDTA on polymer nanoparticle deposition and retention in an iron-oxide-coated sand column.

Ethylenediaminotetraacetic acid (EDTA) occurring in groundwater aquifers complicates the prediction of nanoparticle movement in the porous medium. This paper demonstrates an approach combining Triple Pulse Experiments (TPEs) and numerical modelling to quantify the influence of EDTA on the deposition and retention of polymer nanoparticles in a water-saturated column packed with iron-oxide-coated sand. TPEs injecting three successive pulses in the order of nanoparticle, EDTA, nanoparticle permit nanoparticle deposition in the absence and the presence of EDTA to be compared. Random Sequential Adsorption (RSA) modelling of the nanoparticle breakthrough curves combining mass balance calculation allows the influence of EDTA to be quantified. TPE results demonstrate that the injected EDTA eluted the oxide coatings (favorable deposition sites) from the sand surface and the resulting decline in sites led to enhanced nanoparticle mobility in the subsequent pulse. Quantification results suggest that at the experimental time-scale and under the controlled conditions, elution of one deposition site requires injection of 2.4 × 10(11) EDTA molecules. In total, 75 gram EDTA needs to be injected to remove all the column sites.