Synthesized layered inorganic-organic magnesium organosilicate containing a disulfide moiety as a promising sorbent for cations removal

Eco-Friendly Polysaccharide-Based Synthesis of Nanostructured MgO: Application in the Removal of Cu2+ in Wastewater

The present study described three synthesis routes using different natural polysaccharides as low-cost non-toxic fuels and complexing agents for obtaining MgO. Cassava starch, Aloe vera leaves (mainly acemannan) gel, and citric pectin powder were mixed with magnesium nitrate salt and calcined at 750 °C for 2 h. The samples were named according to the polysaccharide: cassava starch (MgO-St), citrus pectin (MgO-CP), and Aloe vera (MgO-Av). X-ray diffraction identified the formation of a monophasic periclase structure (FCC type) for the three samples. The N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherms (B.E.T. method) showed an important difference in textural properties, with a higher pore volume (V_max = 89.76 cc/g) and higher surface area (SA = 43.93 m²/g) obtained for MgO-St, followed by MgO-CP (V_max = 11.01 cc/g; SA = 7.01 m²/g) and MgO-Av (V_max = 6.44 cc/g; SA = 6.63 m²/g). These data were consistent with the porous appearance observed in SEM images. Porous solids are interesting as adsorbents for removing metallic and molecular ions from wastewater. The removal of copper ions from water was evaluated, and the experimental data at equilibrium were adjusted according to the Freundlich, Langmuir, and Temkin isotherms. According to the Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacity (q_max) was 6331.117, 5831.244, and 6726.623 mg·g^-1 for the adsorbents MgO-St, MgO-Av, and MgO-CP, respectively. The results of the adsorption isotherms indicated that the synthesized magnesium oxides could be used to decrease the amount of Cu²⁺ ions in wastewater.

Electrospun SiO2-MgO hybrid fibers for heavy metal removal: Characterization and adsorption study of Pb(II) and Cu(II)

SiO₂-MgO hybrid fibers (SMHFs) were fabricated by one-step electrospinning process, characterized, and evaluated in heavy metal adsorption, for the first time. High-pressure steam (HPS) pretreated SMHFs showed high specific surface area (S_BET) and large number of surface basic sites accompanied by the crystallization of MgO. The SMHFs showed high affinities for Pb(II) and Cu(II) with the distribution coefficients K_d>100 L·g^-1 (when pH > 4). Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model described the experimental data well, and the maximum adsorption capacities of 787.9 and 493.0 mg·g^-1 for Pb(II) and Cu(II) at 298 K were the highest among those of reported SiO₂-MgO adsorbents. Thermodynamics indicated SMHFs had the spontaneous and physicochemical adsorption nature. SMHFs kept good capacities in the presence of interfering substances and retained their reusability. The SMHFs with the superiority of high efficiency, low cost, easy preparation and environmentally benign, have promising applications in wastewater treatment and relative fields.

Inorganic and Hybrid (Organic⁻Inorganic) Lamellar Materials for Heavy metals and Radionuclides Capture in Energy Wastes Management-A Review

The energy industry (nuclear, battery, mining industries, etc.) produces a large quantity of hazardous effluents that may contain radionuclides (¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr in particular) and heavy metals. One of the hardest tasks of environmental safety and sustainable development is the purification of wastewater holding these pollutants. Adsorption is one of the most powerful methods for extracting toxic compounds from wastewater. This study reviews the usefulness of clay minerals as adsorbent for removing these hazardous elements to clean up energy production processes. Phyllosilicates are able to extract several heavy metals from effluent, as widely examined. A particular focus is given to synthetic phyllosilicates and their abilities to entrap heavy metals with a special attention paid to those synthesized by sol-gel route. Indeed, this method is attractive since it allows the development of organic–inorganic hybrids from organosilanes presenting various functions (amino, thiol, etc.) that can interact with pollutants. Regarding these pollutants, a part of this review focuses on the interaction of lamellar materials (natural and synthetic phyllosilicates as well as layered double hydroxide) with heavy metals and another part deals with the adsorption of specific radionuclides, cesium and strontium.

Biosorption of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution using alginates extracted from Djiboutian seaweeds and deposited on silica particles

High-molecular alginates were extracted from Djiboutian brown seaweeds, Sargassum sp. (S) and Turbinaria (T) and isolated as sodium salts in 31.0 and 42.7% yield by weight. 1H NMR analysis of the uronic acid block-structure indicates mannuronic/guluronic M/G ratios of 0.49 and 3.0 for the alginates extracts, respectively. The resulting alginates were deposited onto native Aerosil 200 silica, amine-functionalized and carboxyl-functionalized silica particles to enhance the mechanical strength providing Alg.(T/S)+SiO2) Alg.(T/S)+SiO2NH2) and Alg.(T)+SiO2CO2H) composites. Taking Pb(II) as examples for toxic heavy metal ions, the effects of the pH, adsorption kinetics, and isotherms have been studied systematically. The best uptake achieved was 585 mg Pb2+ ion/g using Alg.S+SiO2NH2. Furthermore, the Pb(II) ions were successfully desorbed in several cycles from Alg.T+SiO2 using 0.5 M hydrochloric acid. Therefore, Alg.T+SiO2 may be considered as a low-cost biosorbent that quickly adsorbs and easily desorbs analyte lead ions. A comparison of the adsorption capacity of our biopolymer-coated particles with that of other adsorbents reported in the literature reveals that our materials are among the best performing for the adsorption of Pb(II).

Thermal enrichment and speciation of copper in rice husk ashes

Copper(II) was considerably enriched in the residual ash via thermal treatment of copper-sorbed rice husk at 700-1100°C for 2h, and the copper speciation was quantitatively determined with X-ray absorption spectroscopy. After the thermal process, the resulting ash only represents by weight 18.7-26.4% of the pre-heated samples. Copper content in the ashes is >7% which is far above the required minimum copper content in copper ores for the copper smelting sector, 0.5%. Crystalline SiO(2) is observed only in the ash generated at 1100°C, with more copper in this ash being available for leaching in acidic solution. It is suggested that this is due to the considerable dissimilarity in crystalline structure between copper compounds and crystalline SiO(2). No chemical reaction between copper and SiO(2) is observed in any ash. In fact, we suggest that the SiO(2) crystalline phase repels copper during the thermal process; this would make it easy to extract copper from the ashes. For copper speciation in the ashes, CuO merely represents 0-12% of the total copper, while Cu(2)O and Cu(0) represent 34-42% and 46-63%, respectively. The lower copper oxidation state would be beneficial for the copper smelting process due to less usage of coke.

Energetic features of copper and lead sorption by innovative aminoalcohol-functionalized cobalt phyllosilicates

Inorganic-organic cobalt phyllosilicate hybrids were synthesized by the sol-gel procedure under mild non-hydrothermal conditions with a silicon precursor, formed through individual reactions between the silane 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane and the aminoalcohols ethanol- or diethanolamine. These procedures generated talc-like phyllosilicates containing pendant organic chains with nitrogen and oxygen basic centres located in the interlamellar region. For organofunctionalized phyllosilicates the lamellar structure obtained through the sol-gel method was confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction, while elemental analysis indicated that the densities of the organic groups attached to the new matrices were 3.31 ± 0.05 and 3.08 ± 0.07 mmol g(-1) for hybrids functionalized with ethanol- and diethanolamines, respectively. Infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance in the solid state for (13)C and (29)Si showed that the organic groups are indeed covalently bonded to the inorganic structures and the process of functionalization did not affect the original structures of the silylating agents employed. The thermally stable hybrids presented well-formed particles with a homogeneous distribution of cobalt and nitrogen atoms. Their abilities for copper removal from aqueous solutions gave maximum capacities of sorption of 2.01 ± 0.11 and 2.55 ± 0.15 mmol g(-1) for phyllosilicates containing ethanol- and diethanolamine groups, respectively. For lead sorption the values of 2.59 ± 0.11 and 2.43 ± 0.12 mmol g(-1) were found for this same sequence. These sorption data were adjusted to the non-linear regression of the Langmuir equation. Energetic features related to the interactions between the cations and the pendant basic centres were determined through calorimetric titrations. The acid-basic interactions reflect the spontaneity of the reactions, which are also enthalpically and entropically favourable for these chelating processes at the solid-liquid interface.