Ultrasound-assisted adsorption of phenol from aqueous solution by using spent black tea leaves

Application of MXene-based materials in Fenton-like systems for organic wastewater treatment: A review

Recently, Fenton-like systems have been widely explored and applied for the removal of organic matter from wastewater. Two-dimensional (2D) MXene-based materials exhibit excellent adsorption and catalysis capacity for organic pollutants removal, which has been reported widely. However, there is no summary on the application of MXene-based materials in Fenton-like systems for organic matter removal. In this review, four types of MXene-based materials were introduced, including 2D MXene, MXene/Metal complex, MXene/Metal oxide complex, and MXene/3D carbon material complex. In addition, the Fenton-like system usually consists of adsorption and degradation processes. The oxidation process might contain hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) or persulfate (PS) oxidants. This review summarizes the performance and mechanisms of organic pollutants adsorption and oxidants activation by MXene-based materials systematically. Finally, the existing problems and future research directions of MXene-based materials are proposed in Fenton-like wastewater treatment systems.

Fabrication and characterization of a novel Ba2+-loaded sawdust biochar doped with iron oxide for the super-adsorption of SO42- from wastewater

Biochar is a low-cost adsorbent used in the treatment of contaminated wastewater. We investigated the potential of an Fe-impregnated, Ba²⁺-loaded biochar (Fe-(Ba-BC)) for the removal of SO₄^2- from aqueous solutions. The Ba²⁺-loaded biochar was synthesized from sawdust impregnated with iron oxide via pyrolysis at 600 °C. The porous structure of the Fe-(Ba-BC) was identified by scanning electron microscopy before sulfate was adsorbed onto the adsorbent. Functional groups were determined by energy-dispersive spectrophotometry and Raman spectrometry.. The Fe-(Ba-BC) Raman peaks before the experiment were higher than after, suggesting the precipitation of BaSO₄. The presence of BaCl₂ on the surface of the biochar was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Batch sorption results showed that Fe-(Ba-BC) strongly adsorbed aqueous SO₄^2- with a removal efficacy of 96.7% under the optimum conditions of 0.25 M BaCl₂, a contact time of 480 min, a pH of 9 and an adsorbent dose of 2 g. The optimum condition for removal and reaction rate kinetics analysis indicated that adsorption curve fitted well with PSO, k₂ 0.00015 confirmed the removal of SO₄^2- via chemisorption. Thus, Fe-(Ba-BC) was found to be a favorable adsorbent for removing SO₄^2-.

Promising Low-Cost Adsorbent from Waste Green Tea Leaves for Phenol Removal in Aqueous Solution

Phenol is the most common organic pollutant in many industrial wastewaters that may pose a health risk to humans due to its widespread application as industrial ingredients and additives. In this study, waste green tea leaves (WGTLs) were modified through chemical activation/carbonization and used as an adsorbent in the presence of ultrasound (cavitation) to eliminate phenol in the aqueous solution. Different treatments, such as cavitation, adsorption, and sono-adsorption were investigated to remove the phenol. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) morphology of the adsorbent revealed that the structure of WGTLs was porous before phenol was adsorbed. A Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis showed an open chain of carboxylic acids after the sono-adsorption process. The results revealed that the sono-adsorption process is more efficient with enhanced removal percentages than individual processes. A maximum phenol removal of 92% was obtained using the sono-adsorption process under an optimal set of operating parameters, such as pH 3.5, 25 mg L⁻¹ phenol concentration, 800 mg L⁻¹ adsorbent dosage, 60 min time interval, 30 ± 2 °C temperature, and 80 W cavitation power. Removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) reached 85% and 53%. The Freundlich isotherm model with a larger correlation coefficient (R², 0.972) was better fitted for nonlinear regression than the Langmuir model, and the sono-adsorption process confirmed the pseudo-second-order reaction kinetics. The findings indicated that WGTLs in the presence of a cavitation effect prove to be a promising candidate for reducing phenol from the aqueous environment.

Synthesis and evaluation of Ca-doped ferrihydrite as a novel adsorbent for the efficient removal of fluoride

Ferric hydrate has been extensively applied for the removal of various types of pollutants from wastewater because of its low cost and high efficiency. However, its wide-scale application has been greatly restricted by high-dose and low-adsorption capacity. Therefore, a novel Ca-doped ferrihydrite adsorbent has been synthesized and used for the enhanced removal of fluoride from wastewater in the presence of other co-existing ions. At 5 mg/L initial fluoride concentration and pH 5, the removal efficiency of fluoride approached to 97.5% and remained stable. Similarly, with the increase of dose from 100 to 300 mg/L, the fluoride removal linearly increased to 98% and remained plateau at neutral pH. Also, the presence of co-existing ions such as NO₃^-, SO₄^2-, Cl^-, and natural organic matter has not significantly influenced the removal performance of the adsorbent. Fluoride removal best fit the pseudo-second-order reaction kinetics and Langmuir isotherm model. The prepared adsorbent exhibited a maximum adsorption capacity of 53.21 mg/g for fluoride uptake from water. The SEM-EDX confirmed the doping of Ca onto the ferrihydrite where the elemental peaks of Ca and Fe emerged at the energy value of about 3.6 Kev and 7.1 Kev respectively in EDX analysis. In addition, SEM results of Ca-doped ferrihydrite adsorbent illustrated that a large microplates type of products was acquired after synthesis. The regeneration results confirmed that adsorbent could retain their original adsorption capacity after five regeneration cycles. The current study suggested that Ca-doped ferrihydrite has the application potential for the enhanced adsorption of fluoride from the water phase.

Development and Characterization of Functional Starch-Based Films Incorporating Free or Microencapsulated Spent Black Tea Extract

Antioxidant polyphenols in black tea residue are an underused source of bioactive compounds. Microencapsulation can turn them into a valuable functional ingredient for different food applications. This study investigated the potential of using spent black tea extract (SBT) as an active ingredient in food packaging. Free or microencapsulated forms of SBT, using a pectin-sodium caseinate mixture as a wall material, were incorporated in a cassava starch matrix and films developed by casting. The effect of incorporating SBT at different polyphenol contents (0.17% and 0.34%) on the structural, physical, and antioxidant properties of the films, the migration of active compounds into different food simulants and their performance at preventing lipid oxidation were evaluated. The results showed that adding free SBT modified the film structure by forming hydrogen bonds with starch, creating a less elastic film with antioxidant activity (173 and 587 µg(GAE)/g film). Incorporating microencapsulated SBT improved the mechanical properties of active films and preserved their antioxidant activity (276 and 627 µg(GAE)/g film). Encapsulates significantly enhanced the release of antioxidant polyphenols into both aqueous and fatty food simulants. Both types of active film exhibited better barrier properties against UV light and water vapour than the control starch film and delayed lipid oxidation up to 35 d. This study revealed that starch film incorporating microencapsulated SBT can be used as a functional food packaging to protect fatty foods from oxidation.

Improving the bioactive ingredients and functions of asparagus from efficient to emerging processing technologies: A review

Historically, asparagus is a vegetable with abundant phytochemicals (polyphenols, saponins, asparagusic acid, and alkaloids) and crucial bioactivities (neuroprotective, antianxiety, antityrosinase, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiasthma effects). Numerous investigations indicated that processing technologies have a significant influence on the physicochemical, functional, and microstructural characteristics of asparagus. This review presents an updated overview of novel applications of processing technologies, including ultrasound treatments (in terms of extraction, purification, and preservation), heating treatments (hydrothermal treatments, thermal treatments, and combination heating treatments), high-pressure processing, representative shelf-life extension technologies, and green extraction technologies. These physical technologies enhance the yields of bioactive substances, bioactivities and product quality. In addition, utilizing the novel technologies (ohmic heating, cold plasma, pulsed electric fields, membrane processing) and conventional technologies with novel effects to fully develop the potential of asparagus should also be taken into consideration in the future.

Efficient removal of phenol compounds from water environment using Ziziphus leaves adsorbent

Industrial processes generate toxic organic molecules that pollute environment water. Phenol and its derivative are classified among the major pollutant compounds found in water. They are naturally found in some industrial wastewater effluents. The removal of phenol compounds is therefore essential because they are responsible for severe organ damage if they exist above certain limits. In this study, ground Ziziphus leaves were utilized as adsorbents for phenolic compounds from synthetic wastewater samples. Several experiments were performed to study the effect of several conditions on the capacity of the Ziziphus leaves adsorbent, namely: the initial phenol concentration, the adsorbent concentration, temperature, pH value, and the presence of foreign salts (NaCl and KCl). The experimental results indicated that the adsorption process reached equilibrium in about 4 h. A drop in the amount of phenol removal, especially at higher initial concentration, was noticed upon increasing the temperature from 25 to 45 °C. This reflects the exothermic nature of the adsorption process. This was also confirmed by the calculated negative enthalpy of adsorption (-64.8 kJ/mol). A pH of 6 was found to be the optimum value at which the highest phenol removal occurred with around 15 mg/g at 25 °C for an initial concentration of 200 ppm. The presence of foreign salts has negatively affected the phenol adsorption process. The fitting of the experimental data, using different adsorption isotherms, indicated that the Harkins-Jura isotherm model was the best fit, evident by the high square of the correlation coefficient (R²) values greater than 0.96. The kinetic study revealed that the adsorption was represented by a pseudo-second-order reaction. The results of this study offer a basis to use Ziziphus leaves as promising adsorbents for efficient phenol removal from wastewater.

Continuous Phenol Removal Using a Liquid–Solid Circulating Fluidized Bed

A liquid-solid circulating fluidized bed (LSCFB) helps to overcome the shortcomings of conventional fluidized beds by using a particle separation and return system as an integral part of the overall reactor configuration. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out for the removal of phenol from a synthetically prepared solution using fresh activated-carbon-coated glass beads. The morphological features and surface chemistry of the adsorbent were analyzed via SEM and FTIR techniques. The adsorbent dosage, contact time and temperature were varied along with solution pH to assess their effects on the adsorbent performance for phenol removal. Isotherm modeling showed that the phenol removal using the activated-carbon glass beads followed the Langmuir model. Effectively, it was observed at an adsorbent loading of 2.5 g/150 mL of feed volume and a contact time of 3 h produced an 80% efficiency in the batch study. Furthermore, on scaling it up to the column, the desired 98% phenol-removal efficiency was obtained with an adsorbent dosage of 250 g and contact time of 25 min. Adsorbent regeneration using 5% (v/v) ethanol showed a 64% desorption of phenol from the sorbent within 20 min in the LSCFB.

A Biodegradable Magnetic Nanocomposite as a Superabsorbent for the Simultaneous Removal of Selected Fluoroquinolones from Environmental Water Matrices: Isotherm, Kinetics, Thermodynamic Studies and Cost Analysis

The application of a magnetic mesoporous carbon/β-cyclodextrin–chitosan (MMPC/Cyc-Chit) nanocomposite for the adsorptive removal of danofloxacin (DANO), enrofloxacin (ENRO) and levofloxacin (LEVO) from aqueous and environmental samples is reported in this study. The morphology and surface characteristics of the magnetic nanocomposite were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) adsorption–desorption and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The N₂ adsorption–desorption results revealed that the prepared nanocomposite was mesoporous and the BET surface area was 1435 m² g⁻¹. The equilibrium data for adsorption isotherms were analyzed using two and three isotherm parameters. Based on the correlation coefficients (R²), the Langmuir and Sips isotherm described the data better than others. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacities of MMPC/Cyc-Chit nanocomposite for DANO, ENRO and LEVO were 130, 195 and 165 mg g⁻¹, respectively. Adsorption thermodynamic studies performed proved that the adsorption process was endothermic and was dominated by chemisorption.

Studies of adsorption of crystal violet from aqueous solution by nano mesocellular foam silica: process equilibrium, kinetic, isotherm, and thermodynamic studies

Mesocellular foam (MCF) silica molecular sieve material was successfully synthesized using a hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, low nitrogen adsorption-desorption, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization techniques were used to characterize the material. Low temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption method showed that pore size of the synthesized MCF was 12 nm. TEM study showed that the synthesized MCFs had honeycomb structure pores, which can be good for the absorbance of dye organic macromolecule substances. This work studied the adsorption of crystal violet by MCF and the results showed that when the adsorptive conditions were pH = 9.0, MCF:crystal violet = 150:1, and when the contact time was 10 min at room temperature of 25 ± 1 °C, the adsorption rate reached 99.71% and adsorption capacity was 6.646 mg/g. This study found that the adsorption is a Freundlich type, it is a multimolecular layer adsorption, and it belongs to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. According to the ΔG⁰ obtained from adsorption thermodynamics, when the temperature is 25-40 °C, the adsorption enthalpy change ΔH⁰ = -25.65 kJ/mol, ΔG⁰ < 0, the adsorption is an exothermic reaction and can spontaneously occur. The adsorption entropy change ΔS⁰ = 5.54 J/(mol·K) and the entropy of system increased.

Sonochemical versus reverse-precipitation synthesis of CuxO/Fe2O3/MoC nano-hybrid: removal of reactive dyes and evaluation of smartphone for colorimetric detection of organic dyes in water media

In the present work, an ultrasound-assisted reverse-precipitation method was applied as a new approach for the synthesis of Cu_xO/Fe₂O₃/MoC. In the sonication method, a bath type sonicator as a simple, cost-effective, and low intensity sonicator was used. To determine the influence of ultrasonic waves on the morphology and application of nano-hybrid as nano-sorbent, it was also synthesized using the reverse precipitation method. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Zeta-potential measurement, and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) techniques. The XRD analysis confirmed that the sono-synthesized sample has higher crystallinity than the conventional one and CuO/Cu₂O/MoC/Fe₂O₃ phase was obtained under ultrasound. According to the TEM and FESEM, sono-synthesized nanoparticles were rod-like with a width and length of 3 nm and 40 nm, respectively. Also, a well-dispersed shape and uniform morphology of nanoparticles were obtained using sonication. In comparison with the conventional nano-hybrid, this structure results in more void and accessible sites for adsorption of pollutants. The efficiency of resulting nanoparticles in adsorption of reactive dyes as a model of the pollutant was evaluated by sorption and sono-sorption processes. The sono-synthesized sample removed the pollutants more efficient than the conventional sample. The removal efficiencies were about 99% for the removal of reactive dyes using the sono-synthesized sample and sono-sorption method. Besides, determining factors including pH, pollutant concentration, temperature, and contact time were optimized in the sono-sorption and sorption processes. A colorimetric method based on RGB value was used to determine dye concentration in aqueous media. The images were taken by a smartphone and analyzed by ImageJ software. The accuracy of RGB results was confirmed by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Graphical abstract The figures on the left side show the FESEM images of nano-sorbent synthesized in the presence of ultrasonic irradiation (US method) and the absence of it (MS method). A well-dispersed shape and uniform morphology of nanoparticles were obtained using sonication. The scheme on the right side illustrates the process of sono-sorption for the removal of dyes and determination of their concentration using the colorimetric method. A colorimetric method based on RGB value was used to determine dye concentration in aqueous media. The graph shows the removal efficiencies of RY84 onto nanosorbent. The removal efficiencies were about 99% for the removal of reactive dye using the sono-synthesized sample and sono-sorption method.

Adsorption of Dye by Waste Black Tea Powder: Parameters, Kinetic, Equilibrium, and Thermodynamic Studies

Waste black tea powder was used as a potential adsorbent to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. Several operating factors in adsorption of MB onto waste black tea powder were investigated, including contact time, initial MB concentration, solution pH, adsorption temperature, and dosage of waste black tea powder. Experimental results revealed that the adsorption efficiency increased with contact time and solution pH values and decreased with initial MB concentration and adsorption temperature. The equilibrium time was estimated to be around 60 min. The maximum adsorption capacity and the highest adsorption efficiency were 302.63 mg·g−1 and 100%, respectively. In kinetic study, pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models, intraparticle diffusion model, and Boyd and Elovich models were employed to analyze the adsorption behavior and the adsorption mechanism. It was found that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was suitable to describe the adsorption process, and the calculated equilibrium adsorption capacity was well close to the experimental data for different initial MB concentrations. The internal diffusion was not the only rate-controlling step, and the existence of boundary effect was observed in this study. From isotherm analysis, the equilibrium data were well represented by the Langmuir model, rather than Freundlich, Dubinin–Redushckevich, or Temkin models. The nonlinear fitting for various isotherm models implied that the adsorption behavior between MB and waste black tea powder was complication. Thermodynamic parameters including changes in Gibb’s free energy, enthalpy, and entropy suggested that adsorption of MB onto waste black tea powder was a spontaneous and exothermic process. The multiple regeneration/adsorption experiments indicated that the used black tea powder efficiently remained more than 75% after five cycles using NaOH as a regenerative reagent and thus be used for many times. Therefore, as a low-cost and easily available material, waste black tea powder could be applied in wastewater treatment.