Arsenate removal from sulphate-containing water streams by an ion-exchange membrane process

Donnan dialysis for phosphate recovery from diverted urine

There is a critical need to shift from existing linear phosphorous management practices to a more sustainable circular P economy. Closing the nutrient loop can reduce our reliance on phosphate mining, which has well-documented environmental impacts, while simultaneously alleviating P pollution of aquatic environments from wastewater discharges that are not completely treated. The high orthophosphate, H_xPO₄^(3-x)-, content in source-separated urine offers propitious opportunities for P recovery. This study examines the use of Donnan dialysis (DD), an ion-exchange membrane-based process, for the recovery of orthophosphates from fresh and hydrolyzed urine matrixes. H₂PO₄^- transport against an orthophosphate concentration gradient was demonstrated and orthophosphate recovery yields up to 93% were achieved. By adopting higher feed to receiver volume ratios, DD enriched orthophosphate in the product stream as high as ≈2.5 × the initial urine feed concentration. However, flux, selectivity, and yield of orthophosphate recovery were detrimentally impacted by the presence of SO₄^2- and Cl^- in fresh urine, and the large amount of HCO₃^- rendered hydrolyzed urine practically unsuitable for P recovery using DD. The detrimental effects of sulfate ions can be mitigated by utilizing a monovalent ion permselective membrane, improving selectivity for H₂PO₄^- transport over SO₄^2- by 3.1 × relative to DD with a conventional membrane; but the enhancement was at the expense of reduced orthophosphate flux. Critically, widely available and low-cost/waste resources with sufficiently high Cl^- content, such as seawater and waste water softening regenerant rinse, can be employed to improve the economic viability of orthophosphate recovery. This study shows the promising potential of DD for P recovery and enrichment from source-separated urine.

Nanometer effect promoting arsenic removal on α-MnO2 nano-surface in aqueous solution: DFT+U research

The nanometer effect in the process of arsenic ions removal on α-MnO₂ nano-surface is studied by the first-principle method through microfacet models. Several parameters, such as adhesion energy, electrostatic potential, and Mulliken population were calculated to illuminate the internal mechanism. The results show that the adsorption energies of As(OH)₃ molecules on MnO₂[(100×110)] nanostructure are smaller than that on the bulk surface with the same concentration, which means the nanometer effect is beneficial to enhance the adsorption ability of MnO₂ nano-surface. In an aqueous solution, there exist two possible removal ways of As ions. One is the direct reaction of As(OH)₃→As(OH)₆^-, which occurs both in bulk surface and nano-surface. However, to nanomaterials, there exists another removal way of As(OH)₃→As(OH)₄→As(OH)₆^- through an intermediate As(OH)₄ molecule produced by nanometer effect. Furthermore the smaller electrostatic potential of As ions on [(100×110)] nano-surface is beneficial to enhance the removal capability of As ions. Then the reason why MnO₂ nanomaterials have better catalytic activity than the bulk materials is originated from its much less adhesion energy, much more removal ways, and much smaller electrostatic potential. So this research provides a detailed understanding of the removal capability of toxic ions influenced by a nanometer effect.

Reduction and removal of As(Ⅴ) in aqueous solution by biochar derived from nano zero-valent-iron (nZVI) and sewage sludge

Biochar prepared by co-pyrolysis of nano-zero-valent iron and sewage sludge (nZVISB) was used to remove As(Ⅴ) from aqueous solution. When the initial pH was 2, the initial As(Ⅴ) concentration was 20 mg L^-1, the dose of nZVISB was 10 g L^-1, the contact time was 24 h, and the adsorption temperature was 298K, the removal efficiency of As(Ⅴ) was greater than 99%. The isothermal removal of As(Ⅴ) followed the Freundlich model better, and the maximum adsorption capacity of As(Ⅴ) was 60.61 mg g^-1. The removal process of As(Ⅴ) could be better described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the rate-controlling step should be liquid film diffusion and chemical reaction. Thermodynamic analysis indicated that the removal of As(Ⅴ) was a spontaneous and endothermic process dominated by chemical adsorption. The characterizations of nZVISB before/after adsorption and the solution after adsorption suggested that the iron-containing substances (Fe⁰, Fe²⁺, FeOOH) and organics in the nZVISB had a great effect on the removal of As(Ⅴ), and the As was mainly immobilized on nZVISB by speciation of As-O-Fe.

Protein Crystallization in a Microfluidic Contactor with Nafion®117 Membranes

Protein crystallization still remains mostly an empirical science, as the production of crystals with the required quality for X-ray analysis is dependent on the intensive screening of the best protein crystallization and crystal’s derivatization conditions. Herein, this demanding step was addressed by the development of a high-throughput and low-budget microfluidic platform consisting of an ion exchange membrane (117 Nafion^® membrane) sandwiched between a channel layer (stripping phase compartment) and a wells layer (feed phase compartment) forming 75 independent micro-contactors. This microfluidic device allows for a simultaneous and independent screening of multiple protein crystallization and crystal derivatization conditions, using Hen Egg White Lysozyme (HEWL) as the model protein and Hg²⁺ as the derivatizing agent. This microdevice offers well-regulated crystallization and subsequent crystal derivatization processes based on the controlled transport of water and ions provided by the 117 Nafion^® membrane. Diffusion coefficients of water and the derivatizing agent (Hg²⁺) were evaluated, showing the positive influence of the protein drop volume on the number of crystals and crystal size. This microfluidic system allowed for crystals with good structural stability and high X-ray diffraction quality and, thus, it is regarded as an efficient tool that may contribute to the enhancement of the proteins’ crystals structural resolution.

Granular Mg-Fe layered double hydroxide prepared using dual polymers: Insights into synergistic removal of As(III) and As(V)

Controlling the particle size and aggregation of nanosheet layers in layered double hydroxides (LDHs) is critical for their application. Herein, we report the preparation of Mg-Fe LDH through a co-precipitation method. The LDH was embedded using polyacrylamide (PAM) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA; the LDH was designated as PAM/PVA-LDH) for As(III) and As(V) removal. We found that doping with 0.3 mL PVA (2 g L^-1) and 0.4 mL (20 g L^-1) PAM solution delaminated the nanosheet layers of 1 g of the LDH (PAM₄₀/PVA₃₀-LDH) and restructured the crystal phase from monoclinic to orthorhombic. This increased the surface area and pore volume. Furthermore, PAM₄₀/PVA₃₀-LDH exhibited higher affinity for As(III) and As(V) removal with maximum adsorption capacities of 14.1 and 22.8 mg g^-1, respectively, compared to LDH alone with adsorption capacities of 7.1 and 7.9 mg g^-1, respectively. It was found that the highest adsorption capacities of As(III) and As(V) using PAM₄₀/PVA₃₀-LDH occurred at pH ∼7 and pH 2.5, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed that the removal of As(III) and As(V) on PAM₄₀/PVA₃₀-LDH was mainly attributable to ion exchange with intercalated SO₄^2-, hydrogen bonding, and complexation mechanisms. These findings illustrate that PAM₄₀/PVA₃₀-LDH would be an excellent adsorbent for the remediation of arsenic-polluted wastewater.

A review of functional sorbents for adsorptive removal of arsenic ions in aqueous systems

The presence of arsenic in the water system has been a universal problem over the past several decades. Inorganic arsenic ions mainly occur in two oxidation states, As(V) and As(III), in the natural environment. These two oxidation states of arsenic ions are ubiquitous in natural waters and pose significant health hazards to humans when present at or above the allowable limits. Therefore, treatment of arsenic ions has become more stringent based on various techniques (e.g., membrane filtration, adsorption, and ion exchange). This paper aims to review the current knowledge on various functional adsorbents through comparison of removal potential for As on the basis of key performance metrics, especially the partition coefficient (PC). As a whole, novel materials exhibited far better removal performance for As(V) and As(III) than conventional materials. Of the materials reviewed, the advanced sorbent like ZrO(OH)₂/CNTs showcased superior performances such as partition coefficient values of 584.6 (As(V) and 143.8 mol kg^-1 M^-1 (As(III) with excellent regenerability (>90 % of desorption efficiency after three sorption cycles). The results of this review are expected to help researchers to establish a powerful strategy for abatement of arsenic ions in wastewater.

Ion Exchange Dialysis for Aluminium Transport through a Face-Centred Central Composite Design Approach

An ion exchange dialysis (IED) is used in the recovery of aluminium from residue. In this paper, the face-centred central composite design (FC-CCD) of the response surface methodology (RSM) and desirability approach is used for experimental design, modelling and process optimization of a counter flow IED system. The feed concentration, feed flowrate, sweep flowrate and sweep concentration were selected as the process variables, with the Al transport across a Nafion 117 membrane as the target response. A total of 30 experimental runs were conducted with six centre points. The response obtained was analysed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and fitted to a second-order polynomial model using multiple regression analysis. The actual R2 and standard deviation of the model are 0.9548 and 0.2932, respectively. Depending on the time zone of reference (24 h or 32 h), the highest enrichment of >1.50 was achieved. The designed variables were numerically optimized by applying the desirability function to achieve the maximum Al transport. The optimised condition values were found to be a feed concentration of 1600 ppm, feed flowrate of 61.76%, sweep flowrate of 37.50% and sweep concentration of 0.75 N for the 80% target response at 32 h. Overall, the model can be used to effectively predict Al recovery using the designed system.

Arsenate removal from aqueous solutions by cuttlebone/copper oxide nanobiocomposite

This study aims to illustrate the preparation of a new nanobiocomposite by incorporating copper oxide nanoparticles into cuttlebone matrix (CB/CuO NPs), and it was tested to define how effective it was to adsorb and remove arsenate from aqueous systems. CB is the bone tissue of cuttlefish with high porosity, permeability, and low cost. CuO NPs have been introduced as an effective arsenate adsorbent. Producing nanocomposite by introducing of CuO NPs in the structure of CB enhanced their stability and facilitated their separation from solution. Incorporation of CuO NPs in the structure of CB enhanced the adsorption capacity of CB. The adsorption data were fitted with both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, but Langmuir isotherm exhibited better matching rather than Freundlich isotherm. The maximum adsorption capacity (q_max) was calculated from Langmuir adsorption isotherm which was around 25.13 mg g^-1. Kinetic data fitted well to the pseudo-second-order reaction model. The results indicate that the possible mechanism of arsenate adsorption on CB/CuO is through development of inner sphere complex. Simple preparation and abundant and good adsorption capacity in the presence of calcium ions indicate that the CB/CuO is suitable for removal of arsenate from contaminated drinking water.