Highly efficient porous carbons for the removal of W(VI) oxyanion from wastewaters

Valorisation of spent tire rubber as carbon adsorbents for Pb(II) and W(VI) in the framework of a Circular Economy

Spent tire rubber-derived chars and their corresponding H3PO4 and CO2-activated chars were used as adsorbents in the recovery of Pb(II) ion and (W(VI)) oxyanion from synthetic solutions. The developed chars (both raw and activated) were thoroughly characterized to have insight about their textural and surface chemistry properties. H3PO4-activated chars presented lower surface areas than the raw chars and an acidic surface chemistry which affected the performance of these samples as they showed the lowest removals of the metallic ions. On the other hand, CO2-activated chars presented increased surface areas and increased mineral content compared to the raw chars, having presented higher uptake capacities for both Pb(II) (103-116 mg/g) and W(VI) (27-31 mg/g) ions. Cation exchange with Ca, Mg and Zn ions was appointed as a mechanism for Pb removal, as well as surface precipitation in the form of hydrocerussite (Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2). W(VI) adsorption might have been ruled by strong electrostatic attractions between the negatively charged tungstate species and the highly positively charged carbons' surface.The results shown in this work allow concluding that the valorisation of spent tire rubber through pyrolysis and the subsequent activation of the obtained chars is an alternative and a feasible option to generate adsorbent materials with a high uptake capacity of critical metallic elements.

Enhanced removal of P(V), Mo(VI) and W(VI) generated oxyanions using Fe-MOF as adsorbent from hydrometallurgical waste liquid: Exploring the influence of ionic polymerization

Environmentally hazardous P(V), Mo(VI) and W(VI) generated oxyanions exist widely in the waste liquid of nonferrous hydrometallurgy. In this work, Fe-MOF material was simply prepared via solvothermal synthesis and then used as an adsorbent to remove P(V), Mo(VI) and W(VI) oxyanions from hydrometallurgical waste liquid. Several important parameters, including solution pH, oxyanion concentration, contact time, adsorbent amount, temperature and coexistent heavy metal ions, were systematically investigated. The results demonstrate that adsorption process was almost pH-independent over a broad range of pH 3.0-10.0. The adsorption efficiency was strongly associated with the chemical species of oxyanions. The higher polymerisation degree of oxyanions was more favourable for removal efficiency. Additionally, the maximum removal efficiencies for P(V), Mo(VI) and W(VI) oxyanions under optimum conditions were approximately 100%. Furthermore, the adsorption kinetics and isotherms of oxyanions on the adsorbent separately belonged to the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir isotherm models. XPS analysis revealed that inner-sphere complexation played a dominant role in the adsorption removal process. Fe-MOFs with pH-independent properties, abundant binding sites and high stability are prospective adsorbents for treating waste liquids in the hydrometallurgical industry.

Activated Carbon/Pectin Composite Enterosorbent for Human Protection from Intoxication with Xenobiotics Pb(II) and Sodium Diclofenac

The use of enterosorbents—materials which can be administered orally and eliminate toxic substances from the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) by sorption—offers an attractive complementary protection of humans against acute and chronic poisoning. In this study, we report the results of developing a microgranulated binary biomedical preparation for oral use. It was designed with a core-shell structure based on pectin with low degree of esterification as the core, and nanoporous activated carbon produced from rice husk, AC-RH, as the shell, designated as AC-RH@pectin. The adsorption properties of the synthesized materials were studied in aqueous solutions for the removal of lead (II) nitrate as a representative of toxic polyvalent metals and sodium diclofenac as an example of a medicinal drug. The composite enterosorbent demonstrated high adsorption capacity for both adsorbates studied. Adsorption kinetics of lead and diclofenac adsorption by AC-RH, pectin, and AC-RH@pectin, fitted well a pseudo-second-order model. According to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model, the best fitted isotherm model, the maximum adsorption capacity, q_max, of AC-RH@pectin for diclofenac and for lead (II) was 130.9 mg/g and 227.8 mg/g, respectively. Although q_max of AC-RH for diclofenac, 537.6 mg/g, and q_max of pectin for lead (II), 245.7 mg/g, were higher, the maximum adsorption capacity of AC-RH for lead (II), 52.7 mg/g, was much lower than that of the composite AC-RH@pectin and the adsorption capacity of pectin for diclofenac was negligible. Therefore, the composite material AC-RH@pectin demonstrated substantial efficiency of removing both species which potentially defines it as a more universal enterosorbent suitable for treating poisoning caused by substances of different chemical nature.