# Unlocking the Detoxification of Phenanthrene from Water Using Alkali-Activated Slag Mortar
## 4 Conclusions  
Efficient and cost-effective methods to remove phenanthrene (PHE) are highly sought-after. This study highlighted an AAS as a dual-purpose material in construction and  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Tap Water** & **Lake Water** & **River Water** & **Wastewater** & **Ground Water** & **Seawater** \\ \hline pH & 7.15 & 6.54 & 7.03 & 7.62 & 6.91 & 8.02 \\ \hline TOC (mg/L) & - & 13.5 & 18.1 & 10.2 & 15.6 & 3.1 \\ \hline Na & 55.41 & 26.49 & 0.26 & 605 & 9.83 & 468 \\ \hline K & 4.26 & 12.87 & 0.38 & 25.3 & 1.78 & 10.2 \\ \hline Mg & 16.96 & 7.28 & 0.17 & 194.6 & 4.3 & 53.1 \\ \hline Ca & 40.70 & 53.36 & 0.07 & 252 & 4.01 & 10.3 \\ \hline Cl & 0.1 & 21.98 & 1.48 & 15.3 & 19.5 & 605.14 \\ \hline SO\({}_{4}\) & 13.0 & 15.78 & 0.22 & 1.3 & 5.88 & 28.4 \\ \hline HCO\({}_{3}\) & - & 62.24 & 0.11 & 2.6 & 3.86 & 5.39 \\ \hline Br & - & - & 0.96 & - & - & 0.84 \\ \hline F- & 0.05 & - & - & 1.8 & - & - \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 6: Main characteristics of the real water.  
environmental protection. Synthesized from GGBFS and an alkaline solution, AAS achieved peak mechanical strength with 8% Na\({}_{2}\)O by slag weight. The sorption performance of PHE was well described using the Langmuir sorption model. It exhibited superior PHE sorption (up to 44.0 mg/g), which was significantly higher than that of GGBFS (3.79 mg/g). The sorption kinetics of PHE reached equilibrium in 120 h, and the pseudo-second-order model was well fitted with the experimental data. The pH had a negligible effect on PHE sorption due to the stable structure of the aromatic ring. Furthermore, AAS exhibited high selectivity (\(K_{d}\) = 1.3 \(\times\) 10\({}^{4}\) mL/g) for PHE in the presence of various HOCs and water systems, suggesting its practical applicability for PHE sorption at various environment. Mechanisms included cation-\(\pi\) interaction, hydrogen bonding, and flocculation, addressing PHE pollutant challenges in wastewater treatment. With its high mechanical strength and sorption capacity, AAS could have practical applicability in both construction and environmental protection.  
The following supporting information can be downloaded at: [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14166991/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14166991/s1)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14166991/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14166991/s1)), Figure S1: GC-MS data for determination of HOCs and their concentrations in water; Table S1: GC chromatograms of phenanthrene (PHE), Naphthalene (NAP), Pyrene (PYR), Disobutyl phthalate (DiBP) and Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP).  
Methodology, T.T.T. and Q.T.N.L.; Investigation, T.T.T.; Writing--original draft, T.T.T.; Writing--review & editing, Q.T.N.L.; Supervision, Q.T.N.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This work was supported and funded by the research grant No. T2023-146 of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam.  
Not applicable.  
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Materials, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.