scholarly journals Sugarcane Bagasse-derived Hydrochar: Modification with Cations to Enhance Phosphate Removal

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Usarat Thawornchaisit ◽  
◽  
Tanrawee Onlamai ◽  
Nontakorn Phurkphong ◽  
Rawiwan Sukharom ◽  
...  

Cation modified hydrochars were synthesized by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of sugarcane bagasse, followed by impregnation of three different cations (Ca, Mg, and Fe) or co-precipitation of Fe3+ and Fe2+. HTC enhanced the hydrochar surface area and increased the enrichment of oxygen functional groups on the hydrochar surface confirmed by FTIR. The oxygen functional groups further improve the adsorption capacity for cations during hydrochar chemical modification. Physical appearance, FTIR and XRF confirmed that Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe2+ or Fe3+ were well retained in the bagasse-derived hydrochar. The pHpzc values of all chemically modified hydrochars were greater than the unmodified hydrochar or bagasse alone. Modification with different cations improved phosphate uptake capacity. The Fe-modified hydrochar with about 45-50% Fe content showed greater phosphate removal efficiency than Ca- and Mg-modified hydrochars. In addition, hydrochars decorated by impregnation of Fe3+ demonstrated better phosphate removal than ones produced by co-precipitation of Fe3+ and Fe2+. Thus, chemically modified hydrochars could be used as an environmentally alternative adsorbent for phosphate removal from aqueous solutions.

Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Velma Beri Kimbi Yaah ◽  
Satu Ojala ◽  
Hamza Khallok ◽  
Tiina Laitinen ◽  
Marcin Selent ◽  
...  

This paper presents results related to the development of a carbon composite intended for water purification. The aim was to develop an adsorbent that could be regenerated using light leading to complete degradation of pollutants and avoiding the secondary pollution caused by regeneration. The composites were prepared by hydrothermal carbonization of palm kernel shells, TiO2, and W followed by activation at 400 °C under N2 flow. To evaluate the regeneration using light, photocatalytic experiments were carried out under UV-A, UV-B, and visible lights. The materials were thoroughly characterized, and their performance was evaluated for diclofenac removal. A maximum of 74% removal was observed with the composite containing TiO2, carbon, and W (HCP25W) under UV-B irradiation and non-adjusted pH (~5). Almost similar results were observed for the material that did not contain tungsten. The best results using visible light were achieved with HCP25W providing 24% removal of diclofenac, demonstrating the effect of W in the composite. Both the composites had significant amounts of oxygen-containing functional groups. The specific surface area of HCP25W was about 3 m2g−1, while for HCP25, it was 160 m2g−1. Increasing the specific surface area using a higher activation temperature (600 °C) adversely affected diclofenac removal due to the loss of the surface functional groups. Regeneration of the composite under UV-B light led to a complete recovery of the adsorption capacity. These results show that TiO2- and W-containing carbon composites are interesting materials for water treatment and they could be regenerated using photocatalysis.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 341
Author(s):  
Tien Hiep Nguyen ◽  
Gopalu Karunakaran ◽  
Yu.V. Konyukhov ◽  
Nguyen Van Minh ◽  
D.Yu. Karpenkov ◽  
...  

This paper presents the synthesis of Fe–Co–Ni nanocomposites by chemical precipitation, followed by a reduction process. It was found that the influence of the chemical composition and reduction temperature greatly alters the phase formation, its structures, particle size distribution, and magnetic properties of Fe–Co–Ni nanocomposites. The initial hydroxides of Fe–Co–Ni combinations were prepared by the co-precipitation method from nitrate precursors and precipitated using alkali. The reduction process was carried out by hydrogen in the temperature range of 300–500 °C under isothermal conditions. The nanocomposites had metallic and intermetallic phases with different lattice parameter values due to the increase in Fe content. In this paper, we showed that the values of the magnetic parameters of nanocomposites can be controlled in the ranges of MS = 7.6–192.5 Am2/kg, Mr = 0.4–39.7 Am2/kg, Mr/Ms = 0.02–0.32, and HcM = 4.72–60.68 kA/m by regulating the composition and reduction temperature of the Fe–Co–Ni composites. Due to the reduction process, drastic variations in the magnetic features result from the intermetallic and metallic face formation. The variation in magnetic characteristics is guided by the reduction degree, particle size growth, and crystallinity enhancement. Moreover, the reduction of the surface spins fraction of the nanocomposites under their growth induced an increase in the saturation magnetization. This is the first report where the influence of Fe content on the Fe–Co–Ni ternary system phase content and magnetic properties was evaluated. The Fe–Co–Ni ternary nanocomposites obtained by co-precipitation, followed by the hydrogen reduction led to the formation of better magnetic materials for various magnetically coupled device applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ikram ◽  
Sidra Aslam ◽  
Ali Haider ◽  
Sadia Naz ◽  
Anwar Ul-Hamid ◽  
...  

AbstractVarious concentrations of Mg-doped ZnO nanorods (NRs) were prepared using co-precipitation technique. The objective of this study was to improve the photocatalytic properties of ZnO. The effect of Mg doping on the structure, phase constitution, functional groups presence, optical properties, elemental composition, surface morphology and microstructure of ZnO was evaluated with XRD, FTIR, UV–Vis spectrophotometer, EDS, and HR-TEM, respectively. Optical absorption spectra obtained from the prepared samples showed evidence of blueshift upon doping. XRD results revealed hexagonal wurtzite phase of nanocomposite with a gradual decrease in crystallite size with Mg addition. PL spectroscopy showed trapping efficiency and migration of charge carriers with electron–hole recombination behavior, while HR-TEM estimated interlayer d-spacing. The presence of chemical bonding, vibration modes and functional groups at the interface of ZnO was revealed by FTIR and Raman spectra. In this study, photocatalytic, sonocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic performance of prepared NRs was systematically investigated by degrading a mixture of methylene blue and ciprofloxacin (MBCF). Experimental results suggested that improved degradation performance was shown by Mg-doped ZnO NRs. We believe that the product synthesized in this study will prove to be a beneficial and promising photocatalyst for wastewater treatment. Conclusively, Mg-doped ZnO exhibited substantial (p < 0.05) efficacy against gram-negative (G-ve) as compared to gram-positive (G+ve) bacteria. In silico molecular docking studies of Mg-doped ZnO NRs against DHFR (binding score: − 7.518 kcal/mol), DHPS (binding score: − 6.973 kcal/mol) and FabH (− 6.548 kcal/mol) of E. coli predicted inhibition of given enzymes as possible mechanism behind their bactericidal activity.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4196
Author(s):  
Ji Hyeon Lee ◽  
Hyun Wook Jung ◽  
In Soo Kim ◽  
Min Park ◽  
Hyung-Seok Kim

In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used as cathodes for lithium–oxygen (Li–O2) batteries to confirm the effect of oxygen functional groups present on the CNT surface on Li–O2 battery performance. A coating technology using atomic layer deposition was introduced to remove the oxygen functional groups present on the CNT surface, and ZnO without catalytic properties was adopted as a coating material to exclude the effect of catalytic reaction. An acid treatment process (H2SO4:HNO3 = 3:1) was conducted to increase the oxygen functional groups of the existing CNTs. Therefore, it was confirmed that ZnO@CNT with reduced oxygen functional groups lowered the charging overpotential by approximately 230 mV and increased the yield of Li2O2, a discharge product, by approximately 13%. Hence, we can conclude that the ZnO@CNT is suitable as a cathode material for Li–O2 batteries.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document