Effect of Calcination on the Chemical and Microstructural Properties of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SCBA)

This research study is for the evaluation of the effect of the burning temperature on the chemical and microstructural properties of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash. The Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SCBA) is a byproduct of sugarcane which is dumped without proper handling and causing environmental issues because of the burning on dump site and loss of the area due to dumping in the commodity. The current research study is conducted for burning of SCBA on different temperatures and duration for finding the optimum burning temperature and duration of burning. The chemical and microstructural properties of SCBA evaluated at burning temperatures of 800°C for the duration of 01 hour, at temperature of 600° for the duration of 03 and 06 hours by conducting the tests of FTIR, XRD and XRF on the samples. The test results show that the burning temperatures of 800°C for the duration of 1 hour contains amorphous silica and also fulfilling the requirement of pozzolanic material (Composition of Silica, alumina and iron oxide is greater than 70%) as compared to other ash samples of sugarcane bagasse.

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Silicoaluminophosphate with AEL Structure Using a Residue of Fluorescent Lamps as Starting Material

Silicoaluminophosphate molecular sieves of SAPO-11 type (AEL structure) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method, from the residue of a fluorescent lamp as a source or Si, Al, and P in the presence of water and di-propyamine (DPA) as an organic template. To adjust the P2O5/SiO2 and Si/Al and ratios, specific amounts of silica, alumina, or alumina hydroxide and orthophosphoric acid were added to obtain a gel with molar chemical composition 1.0 Al2O3:1.0 P2O5:1.2 DPA:0.3 SiO2:120 H2O. The syntheses were carried out at a temperature of 473 K at crystallization times of 24, 48, and 72 h. The fluorescent lamp residue and the obtained samples were characterized by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and BET surface area analysis using nitrogen adsorption isotherms. The presence of fluorapatite was detected as the main crystalline phase in the residue, jointly with considered amounts of silica, alumina, and phosphorus in oxide forms. The SAPO-11 prepared using aluminum hydroxide as Al source, P2O5/SiO2 molar ratio of 3.6 and Si/Al ratio of 0.14, at crystallization time of 72 h, achieves a yield of 75% with a surface area of 113 m2/g, showing that the residue from a fluorescent lamp is an alternative source for development of new materials based on Si, Al, and P.

Effect of Beneficiation on the Characterization of Getso Kaolin

In their raw forms, clay minerals are found with a number of inherent impurities which make them unsuitable for most industrial applications. In order to overcome this problem and add value to clay minerals, beneficiation process is an indispensable solution. This study investigates effect of wet beneficiation process on the characteristics of a local clay mined from Getso village of Kano State, Nigeria. Mineralogical characterization of the clay was carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyzer. Chemical characterization of the clay was carried out using X-ray fluorescence analyzer. Physicochemical characterization of the clay was carried out using pH meter and density analysis conducted using density bottle. XRD analysis of Getso clay showed that the raw clay had 8 wt% kaolinite and 51% quartz. Wet beneficiation resulted into 53% improvement of the kaolinite content and 47% reduction of quartz impurity. The XRF analysis has shown that silica-alumina ratio of the raw Getso clay was 1.55 and this reduced to 1.49 after beneficiation. The physicochemical characterization of the clay has shown that Getso clay is neutral, the raw clay and beneficiated clay had average pH values of 7.5 and 7.3, respectively. Specific gravity values of the raw and beneficiated clay were 2.24 and 2.04, respectively. The beneficiation process had been effective as substantial increase in kaolinte content was observed and a reasonable decrese in the impurity contents was observed from the raw to the beneficiated clay. The Garnet content was completely reduced to zero while quartz, clinochlore and orthoclase were reduced by 24%, 9% and 13% respectively. The clay obtained after the beneficiation be serve as good raw material for production of whitewares, high grade ceramics in synthesis of zeolitic materials.

Efficiency in Ofloxacin Antibiotic Water Remediation by Magnetic Zeolites Formed Combining Pure Sources and Wastes

In this work, red mud (RM) and spinel iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) were added to pure silica/alumina sources (SAs) and fly ash (FA) with the aim of synthesizing and investigating the magnetic behavior of different zeolites. SAs were used to synthesize zeolite with LTA topology (zeolite A) with the addition of both red mud and spinel iron oxide nanoparticles. FA and RM were mixed to synthesize sodalite whereas only FA with the addition of SPIONs was used to form zeolite with FAU-topology (zeolite X). All the synthetic products showed magnetic properties. However, zeolites with spinel iron oxide nanoparticles (zeolites A and X) showed ferromagnetic-like behavior. Sodalite was characterized by a reduction in saturation magnetization, whereas zeolite A with red mud displayed antiferromagnetic behavior. For the first time, all the synthetic products were tested for polluted water remediation by a persistent emerging contaminant, ofloxacin (OFL) antibiotic. The four zeolite types showed good adsorption affinity towards OFL under actual conditions (tap water, natural pH). All materials were also tested for OFL removal in real waters spiked with OFL 10 µg L−1. Satisfactory recoveries (90–92% in tap water, 83–87% in river water) were obtained for the two zeolites synthesized from industrial waste materials.