Methods to Improve nZVI Adsorbance on Silicates Surface for Nitrate Reduction

<p>Efforts to remove excess nitrate in the groundwater typically involves expensive ion-exchange membranes or slow reacting bio-reactors. Nano-sized zero valent iron (nZVI) has been used successfully to reduce nitrate into ammonia in various sites in USA and Europe. However, nZVI has a number of major setbacks associated with it, namely the tendency to agglomerate due to magnetic properties, and the possible toxicity due to the nano-sized material. To circumvent these two setbacks, nZVI could be adsorbed onto solid support. In this research, geothermal sediment microsilicate 600 (Misi) was utilised as a support. Initial results suggested that Misi has potential as a support for nZVI, however modifications were required to improve the adsorbance of nZVI onto Misi surface. Calcination, activation, acid wash and iron oxyhydroxide coating were used as surface modifications for Misi. It was found that the two most important modifications for nZVI adsorption was calcination at either 400 or 600 °C and acid washing in 5.6 M HCl. Equipped with this knowledge, other silica and silicates were also used to adsorb nZVI. For pure silica surfaces, 3-APTES and 3-TPTMS ligands and pore enlarging methods of calcination of porogen and salt wash were also used. nZVI was not able to be fully adsorbed on pure silica surfaces. Four other silicates were examined: Rice husk ash, Western Australia silica fume, Mt Piper fly ash, and precipitated aluminium silicate. Of these, only Western Australia silica fume and precipitated aluminium silicate showed potential as nZVI support. Based on the SEM-EDS XRD data of all the silica and silicates, it could be tentatively concluded that nZVI requires an aluminium silicate surface for successful adsorption. Aluminium silicate surfaces typically has an exchangeable cation present, and this cation might play a part in nZVI adsorption. The nZVI/Misi surface was then utilised to reduce nitrate. It was discovered that even though activation and FeOOH did not play a part in nZVI adsorption onto Misi surface, these two steps were important in reduction of nitrate, as the presence of activation and FeOOH increase the reduction of nitrate significantly within 60 minutes. The Misi-supported nZVI were also shown to be more stable in dispersion, and less agglomerated as shown in a sand column experiment.</p>

Methods to Improve nZVI Adsorbance on Silicates Surface for Nitrate Reduction

<p>Efforts to remove excess nitrate in the groundwater typically involves expensive ion-exchange membranes or slow reacting bio-reactors. Nano-sized zero valent iron (nZVI) has been used successfully to reduce nitrate into ammonia in various sites in USA and Europe. However, nZVI has a number of major setbacks associated with it, namely the tendency to agglomerate due to magnetic properties, and the possible toxicity due to the nano-sized material. To circumvent these two setbacks, nZVI could be adsorbed onto solid support. In this research, geothermal sediment microsilicate 600 (Misi) was utilised as a support. Initial results suggested that Misi has potential as a support for nZVI, however modifications were required to improve the adsorbance of nZVI onto Misi surface. Calcination, activation, acid wash and iron oxyhydroxide coating were used as surface modifications for Misi. It was found that the two most important modifications for nZVI adsorption was calcination at either 400 or 600 °C and acid washing in 5.6 M HCl. Equipped with this knowledge, other silica and silicates were also used to adsorb nZVI. For pure silica surfaces, 3-APTES and 3-TPTMS ligands and pore enlarging methods of calcination of porogen and salt wash were also used. nZVI was not able to be fully adsorbed on pure silica surfaces. Four other silicates were examined: Rice husk ash, Western Australia silica fume, Mt Piper fly ash, and precipitated aluminium silicate. Of these, only Western Australia silica fume and precipitated aluminium silicate showed potential as nZVI support. Based on the SEM-EDS XRD data of all the silica and silicates, it could be tentatively concluded that nZVI requires an aluminium silicate surface for successful adsorption. Aluminium silicate surfaces typically has an exchangeable cation present, and this cation might play a part in nZVI adsorption. The nZVI/Misi surface was then utilised to reduce nitrate. It was discovered that even though activation and FeOOH did not play a part in nZVI adsorption onto Misi surface, these two steps were important in reduction of nitrate, as the presence of activation and FeOOH increase the reduction of nitrate significantly within 60 minutes. The Misi-supported nZVI were also shown to be more stable in dispersion, and less agglomerated as shown in a sand column experiment.</p>

A New Perspective on Adsorbent Materials Based Impregnated MgSiO3 with Crown Ethers for Palladium Recovery

The study of new useful, efficient and selective structures for the palladium ions’ recovery has led to the development of a new series of macromolecules. Thus, this study presents a comparative behavior of two crown benzene ethers that modify the magnesium silicate surface used as adsorbent for palladium. These crown ethers are dibenzo18-crown-6 (DB18C6) and dibenzo 30-crown-10 (DB30C10). The obtained materials were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The specific surface area (BET) and point of zero charge (PZC) of the two materials were determined. The palladium ions’ recovery from synthetic aqueous solutions studies aimed to establish the adsorption mechanism. For this desideratum, the kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic studies show that MgSiO3-DB30C10 have a higher adsorption capacity (35.68 mg g−1) compared to MgSiO3-DB18C6 (21.65 mg g−1). Thermodynamic studies highlight that the adsorption of Pd(II) on the two studied materials are spontaneous and endothermic processes. The positive values of the entropy (ΔS0) suggest that the studied adsorption processes show a higher disorder at the liquid/solid interface. Desorption studies were also performed, and it was found that the degree of desorption was 98.3%.

Polyurethaneacrylate/montmorillonite nanocomposites

In order to create polymer nanocomposites with high performance on the basis of polyurethaneacrylates (PUA) with montmorillonite (MMT), three methods of chemical modification of the layered silicate surface have been developed. The first modification method is based on using of two different functional modifiers (organophilic and reactive), the second method is based on modification with synthesized by us compound which contains urethane groups, and the third one in based on using synthesized by us modifier containing urethane and other reactive groups. Exchange capacity of the MMT surface was determined by adsorption of indicator “methylene blue”. Intercalation of modifier into the interlayer space of MMT was confirmed by X-ray analysis; the content of organic component in the modified MMT (MMT/M) was determined by thermogravimetric analysis. The resulting organoclay is purposed for the formation of nanostructured composites based on cross-linked polyurethane acrylates with improved physical and mechanical properties. The obtained polyurethaneacrylate nanocomposites with different type MMT/M exhibit the increased in 1,6–2,6 times tensile strength as compared to original polymer matrix. WAXS method has proved an intercalation of modifier into MMT interlayer space (increased distance between layers after modification), as well as the total exfoliation of MMT in PUA matrix, characterized by the disappearance of the absorption peak which is responsible for layered structure.

Hardening Performance and Mechanism of Fluosilicate Surface Treatment Agent on Cement-Based Materials

Based on the theory of ecological resources recycling, the effects of matrix quality, surface treatment method, soaking time, age after treatment and fluosilicate cation on hardening cement based materials were investigated by using the byproduct of phosphate fertilizer production namely fluosilicate as the surface treatment agent of cement-based materials and changing different surface treatments. The results showed that the permeation capacity of surface hardener solution , the wear resistance and surface hardness of cement-based materials were significantly improved by the treatments of surface sanding and oven drying. Both surface spraying and submerging methods can promptly increase the hardening effect by more than 20%, manifesting as the rapid improvement of wear resistance in 1 day and the maintenance of that in 7 days. The effective spraying amount and soaking time were 100g/m2-200g/m2 and 6 h, respectively. The fluosilicate surface hardener exhibited better hardening effect than the silicate surface hardener for those matrix materials with different quality, especially for the matrix materials with low compactness. The magnesium fluosilicate displayed the best hardening effect. Besides, the mechanism of fluosilicate and silicate surface hardeners were discussed and compared. The results show that the fluosilicate surface hardener produced crystals and colloids by reacting with cement hydrates to fill the void and improve the compactness, other than the silicate surface hardener which produced calcium silicates by reacting with cement hydrates. As a result, the hardness and wear resistance of cement-based materials are improved, but also the probability of a potential alkali-aggregate reaction is substantially reduced.