A Novel Geopolymer Foam Based On ZSM-5 Zeolite Fabricated Using Templating Emulsion/Chemical Foaming Method and Its Application in Batch and Continuous Dye Removal Systems

Geopolymers as sustainable and environmentally friendly “green materials”, can be synthesized by utilizing waste material and by-products. A porous geopolymer foam adsorbent based on ZSM-5 zeolite was prepared using templating emulsion/chemical foaming method in different conditions and used for dye removal in batch and continuous systems. The parameters affecting the dye adsorption including temperature, concentration, and pH, kinetics, isotherm, and thermodynamics of the process were investigated. The results of the geopolymer foam synthesis showed that thermal pretreatment of the zeolite has a positive effect on the strength and adsorption capacity. Moreover, the increase in sodium silicate more than the stoichiometric reduces the strength and adsorption capacity. The findings obtained from the batch adsorption process showed that the adsorption kinetics of the pseudo-second-order model and the adsorption isotherm of the Temkin model is adjusted with the experimental data. Thermodynamic results indicated that the process of dye adsorption with geopolymer foam is exothermic. The results from continuous experiments indicated more compatibility of the adsorption process with the models of Thomas and Bohart-Adams. The maximum adsorption capacity of methylene blue in batch and continuous processes was 9.82 and 8.17 mg/g. The adsorbent reduction was performed successfully by chemical and thermal processes.

Hydrothermal Carbonization of Waste Sugarcane Bagasse for the Effective Removal of Emerging Contaminants from Aqueous Solution

Porous carbon spheres were fabricated from sugarcane bagasse using a sustainable hydrothermal carbonization process followed by alkali impregnation inert atmosphere activation. Developed spheres were technically analysed for their chemical science, structural morphology, texture, porosity with respect to size distribution, and thermal degradation. Spheres are functionally enriched with oxygenated groups showing amorphous nature portraying as a smooth surface. After activation, intensity of functional groups is reduced due to reduction reaction by KOH thereby yielding highly rich porous carbon. The active surface area developed on spheres is 111 m2 g-1 holding pores that are mesoporous in nature. Resistance to thermal exposure using TGA showed that decomposition of hemicelluloses followed by cellulose yielded aromatized carbon-rich skeleton through thermal degradation of carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. Developed carbon was found to be effective in removing Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride from water with maximum adsorption capacity of 110.008 mg g-1. Mechanistic removal followed pseudo-second-order kinetics along with Freundlich mode of adsorption. The presence of carboxylic and hydroxyl groups in porous carbon favoured elimination of CPF from water. The development of HTC-derived carbon helped conserving the energy thereby reducing the cost requirement.

A Fungal Modified Material With High Uranium (VI) Absorption Capacity And Strong Anti-Interference Ability

With polydioxyethylene ether as the bridge chain, a new fungal modified material with diamidoxime groups was prepared by a series of uncomplex synthesis reaction. The orthogonal experiment obtained its optimized adsorption conditions as follows: the initial pH value 6.5, the initial uranyl concentration 40 mg L-1, the contact time 130 min, and the solid-liquid ratio 25 mg L-1. The maximum adsorption capacity of target material was 446.20 mg g-1, and it was much greater than that of the similar monoamidoxime material (295.48 mg g−1). The linear Langmuir (R2 = 0.9856) isotherm models and the linear pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 = 0.9931) fit the experimental data of uranium (VI) adsorption better, indicating the adsorption mechanism should mainly be the monolayer adsorption and chemical process. In addition, the relevant experiments exhibited the prepared material was of the good reuse and the excellent anti-interference performance, which suggested the new acquisition should also have well-applied prospect in the future.

Mild Hydrothermal Synthesis of 11Å-TA from Alumina Extracted Coal Fly Ash and Its Application in Water Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions (Cu(II) and Pb(II))

Non-biodegradable copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) contaminants in water are highly toxic and have series adverse effects. Therefore, it is very important to extract heavy metals from wastewater before it is discharged into the environment. Adsorption is a cost-effective alternative method for wastewater treatment. Choosing a low-cost adsorbent can help reduce the cost of adsorption. In this study, conversion of reside after extracting aluminum (REA) produced by sub-molten salt method transform high-alumina coal fly ash (CFA) into 11Å-tobermorite to adsorb Cu(II) and Pb(II) from aqueous solutions at room temperature. The synthesis of the adsorbent was confirmed using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method surface analysis. To study the adsorption characteristics, factors such as initial Cu(II) and Pb(II) concentration, pH, contact time, adsorption characteristics and temperature were investigated in batch mode. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cu(II) and Pb(II) was 177.1 mg·g−1 and 176.2 mg·g−1, respectively. The Langmuir adsorption model was employed to better describe the isothermal adsorption behavior and confirm the monolayer adsorption phenomenon. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model was used to highlight Cu(II) and Pb(II) adsorption kinetics. Thermodynamic analysis indicated the removal Cu(II) and Pb(II) by TA-adsorbent was a nonspontaneous and exothermic reaction. The obtained results are of great significance to the conversion of industrial waste to low-cost adsorbent for Cu(II) and Pb(II) removal from water.

Designing Phenyl Porous Organic Polymers with High-Efficiency Tetracycline Adsorption Capacity and Wide pH Adaptability

Adsorption is an effective method to remove tetracycline (TC) from water, and developing efficient and environment-friendly adsorbents is an interesting topic. Herein, a series of novel phenyl porous organic polymers (P-POPs), synthesized by one-pot polymerization of different ratios of biphenyl and triphenylbenzene under AlCl3 catalysis in CH2Cl2, was studied as a highly efficient adsorbent to removal of TC in water. Notably, the obtained POPs possessed abundant phenyl-containing functional groups, large specific surface area (1098 m2/g) with abundant microporous structure, high pore volume (0.579 cm3/g), favoring the removal of TC molecules. The maximum adsorption capacity (fitted by the Sips model) could achieve 581 mg/g, and the adsorption equilibrium is completed quickly within 1 h while obtaining excellent removal efficiency (98%). The TC adsorption process obeyed pseudo-second-order kinetics and fitted the Sips adsorption model well. Moreover, the adsorption of POPs to TC exhibited a wide range of pH (2–10) adaptability and outstanding reusability, which could be reused at least 5 times without significant changes in structure and efficiency. These results lay a theoretical foundation for the application of porous organic polymer adsorbents in antibiotic wastewater treatment.

The Performance of Different AgTiO2 Loading into Poly(3-Nitrothiophene) for Efficient Adsorption of Hazardous Brilliant Green and Crystal Violet Dyes

The in-situ polymerization technology was used to successfully produce nanostructured binary nanocomposites (NCs) made from a poly (3-nitrothiophen) matrix (P3NT) that were loaded effectively with nanoparticles (NPs) of silver titanium dioxide (AgTiO2), of varying percentages (10%, 20%, and 30%). A uniform coating of P3NT covers the AgTiO2 NPs. Various methods were performed to confirm the fabrication of the binary P3NT/AgTiO2 NCs adsorbents, such as FTIR, XRD, SEM, and EDX. Both dyes (brilliant green (B.G.) and crystal violet (C.V.)) were removed from liquid media by using the binary P3NT/AgTiO2 NCs. A range of batch adsorption studies was used to optimize various factors that impact the elimination of B.G. or C.V. dyes, including the pH, weight of the binary P3NT/AgTiO2 NC, proportion of AgTiO2 NP, time, and temperature. The pseudo-second-order kinetics ( R 2 = 0.999 ) was better adapted for the adsorption procedure’s empirical data whereby the maximum adsorption capacity of the C.V. dye was 43.10 mg/g and ( R 2 = 0.996 ) the maximum adsorption potential was 40.16 mg/g for B.G. dye, succeeded by the pseudo-second-order kinetics. Moreover, the adhesion of B.G. and C.V. pigments on the layers of NCs involves an endothermic reaction. In addition, the concocted adsorbent not only exhibited strong adsorption characteristics during four consecutive cycles but also possessed a higher potential for its reuse. According to the findings, the NCs might possibly be used as a robust and reusable adsorbent to remove B.G. and C.V. pigments from an aqueous medium.

Nanoarchitectonics for High Adsorption Capacity Carboxymethyl Cellulose Nanofibrils-Based Adsorbents for Efficient Cu2+ Removal

In the present study, carboxymethyl cellulose nanofibrils (CMCNFs) with different carboxyl content (0.99–2.01 mmol/g) were prepared via controlling the ratio of monochloroacetic acid (MCA) and sodium hydroxide to Eucalyptus bleached pulp (EBP). CMCFs-PEI aerogels were obtained using the crosslinking reaction of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and CMCNFs with the aid of glutaraldehyde (GA). The effects of pH, contact time, temperature, and initial Cu2+ concentration on the Cu2+ removal performance of CMCNFs-PEI aerogels was highlighted. Experimental data showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of CMCNF30-PEI for Cu2+ was 380.03 ± 23 mg/g, and the adsorption results were consistent with Langmuir isotherm (R2 > 0.99). The theoretical maximum adsorption capacity was 616.48 mg/g. After being treated with 0.05 M EDTA solution, the aerogel retained an 85% removal performance after three adsorption–desorption cycles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results demonstrated that complexation was the main Cu2+ adsorption mechanism. The excellent Cu2+ adsorption capacity of CMCNFs-PEI aerogels provided another avenue for the utilization of cellulose nanofibrils in the wastewater treatment field.

Removal of Cesium and Strontium From Radioactive Wastewater by Prussian Blue Nanorods

In this work, novel Prussian blue tetragonal nanorods were prepared by template-free solvothermal methods for removal of radionuclide Cs and Sr. It was worth that Prussian blue nanorods exhibited the better adsorption performance than co-precipitation PB or Prussian blue analogue composites. Thermodynamic analysis implied that adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic which was described well with Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order equation, the maximum adsorption capacity of PB nanorod was estimated to be 194.26 mg g-1 and 256.62 mg g-1 for Cs+ and Sr2+. The adsorption mechanism of Cs+ and Sr2+ was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and 57Fe Mössbaure spectroscopy, the results revealed that Cs+ entered in PB crystal to generate a new phase, the most of Sr2+ was trapped in internal crystal and the other exchanged Fe2+. Furthermore, the effect of co-existing ions and pH for PB adsorption process were also investigated. The results suggest that PB nanorods were outstanding candidate for removal of Cs+ and Sr2+ from radioactive wastewater.

Microwave Synthesis, Characterization and Perspectives of Wood Pencil-Derived Carbon

More than 14 billion pencils are manufactured and used globally every year. On average, a pencil is discarded after 60% of its original length has been depleted. In the present work we propose a simple and affordable way of converting this non-neglectable amount of waste into added value carbon product. In particular, we demonstrate the microwave synthesis of carbon from the wood pencil with and without chemical activation. This could be a process stage before the final recycling of the expensive graphite core. In the latter case, irradiation of the wood pencil in a domestic microwave oven heats up the pencil’s graphite core, thus inducing carbonization of its wood casing. The carbonized product consists of amorphous carbon nanosheets having relatively low surface area. However, if the wood pencil is soaked in 50% KOH aqueous solution prior to microwave irradiation, a significantly higher surface area of carbon is obtained, consisting of irregular-shaped porous particles. Consequently, the obtained carbon can easily decolorize a methylene blue aqueous solution, can be used to make pocket warmers or gunpowder, and lastly, serves as an excellent adsorbent towards Cr(VI) removal from water, showing a maximum adsorption capacity of 70–75 mg/g within 24 h at 23 °C, pH = 3.

Adsorption performances and electrochemical characteristics of methyl blue onto magnesium-zinc ferrites

A novel and facile rapid combustion approach was developed for the controllable preparation of small size and easy recovery magnesium-zinc ferrites for methyl blue (MB) removal in dye solution. The effects of prepared criteria of x value, calcination temperature, and the amount of ethanol on the average grain sizes and magnetic property were reviewed. The characterization results displayed that Mg0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticles met the expectations of the experiment at the calcination temperature of 400℃ with absolute ethanol volume of 20 mL, and they were selected to remove MB. The adsorption process belonged to chemical adsorption on the basis of the pseudo-second-order model. The electrochemical characteristics of MB onto the prepared nanoparticles were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The influences of pH and cycle times on the removal efficiency were investigated. When the pH went beyond 3, the removal efficiency of MB onto the magnetic Mg0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticles maintained above 99%，the maximum adsorption capacity was 318.18 mg/g. After seven cycles, the relative removal rate of MB remained 96% of the first one.