Preparation, Characterization, and Application of Modified Chitosan Sorbents for Elemental Mercury Removal

Encapsulation of activated carbon into calcium alginate microspheres toward granular-activated carbon adsorbents for elemental mercury capture from natural gas

Activated carbon (AC) is an effective adsorbent for removing environmental pollutants. However, the traditional powder form of AC shows difficulty in handling during application which widely limits its utilization on the industrial scale. Herein, to avoid such limitation, traditional AC powder was encapsulated into calcium alginate (CA) microspheres. Calcium alginate/activated carbon (CAA) composite microspheres were prepared via cross-linking of sodium alginate/activated carbon composite solutions in a calcium chloride solution. Furthermore, in order to boost adsorption affinity of CAA composite microspheres toward elemental mercury (Hg°), ammonium iodide (NH₄I)-treated calcium alginate/activated carbon (NCA) composite microspheres were obtained by a simple impregnation method using NH₄I treatment. The morphological, structural, and textural properties of the microspheres were characterized and their Hg° adsorptive capacity was tested at different temperatures. Interestingly, the maximum adsorption capacity of NCA adsorbent composite microspheres was determined as 36,056.5 μg/g at a flow rate of 250 mL/min, temperature of 25 °C, and 500 μg/Nm³ of Hg° initial concentration. The Gibbs free energy (ΔG°) for NCA adsorbent composite microspheres varied from - 8.59 to - 10.54 kJ/mol indicating a spontaneous adsorption process with an exothermic nature. The experimental Hg° breakthrough curve correlated well with Yoon‒Nelson and Thomas models. The breakthrough time (t_b) and equilibrium time (t_e) were found to be 7.5 days and 23 days, respectively. Collectively, the findings of this work indicate a good feasibility of using NCA composite microspheres as potential adsorbents for removing Hg° from natural gas.

Chitosan modifications for adsorption of pollutants - A review

In recent times, research interest into the development of biodegradable, cost-effective and environmental friendly adsorbents with favourable properties for adsorption of pollutants is a challenge. Modification of chitosan via different physical and chemical methods have gained attention as a promising approach for removing organic (such as dyes and pharmaceuticals) and inorganic (such as metal/metal ions) pollutants from aqueous medium. In this regard, researchers have reported grafting and cross-linking approach among others as a potentially useful method for chitosan's modification for improved adsorption efficiency with respect to pollutant uptake. This article reviews the trend in chitosan modification, with regards to the summary of some recently published works on modification of chitosan and their adsorption application in pollutants (metal ion, dyes and pharmaceuticals) removal from aqueous medium. The review uniquely highlights some common cross-linkers and grafting procedures for chitosan modification, their influence on structure and adsorption capacity of modified-chitosan with respect to pollutants removal. Findings revealed that the performance of modified chitosan for adsorption of pollutants depends largely on the modification method adopted, materials used for the modification and adsorption experimental conditions. Cross-linking is commonly utilized for improving the chemical and mechanical stabilities of chitosan but usually decreases adsorption capacity of chitosan/modified-chitosan for adsorption of pollutants. However, literature survey revealed that adsorption capacity of cross-linked chitosan based materials have been enhanced in recently published works either by grafting, incorporation of solid adsorbents (e.g metals, clays and activated carbon) or combination of both prior to cross-linking.

MnO2 flowery nanocomposites for efficient and fast removal of mercury(ii) from aqueous solution: a facile strategy and mechanistic interpretation

MnO2 flowery nanocomposites were explored as a novel and cost effective nanoadsorbent for the fast and efficient extraction of toxic inorganic contaminants from aqueous solution.

Chitosan-Thiobarbituric Acid: A Superadsorbent for Mercury

In the present investigation, chitosan (CH) was supramolecularly cross-linked with thiobarbituric acid to form CT. CT was well characterized by UV, scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, Fourier transform infrared, NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction analyses, and its adsorption potential for elemental mercury (Hg⁰), inorganic mercury (Hg²⁺), and methyl mercury (CH₃Hg⁺) was investigated. Adsorption experiments were conducted to optimize the parameters for removal of the mercury species under study, and the data were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin adsorption isotherm models. CT was found to have high adsorption capacities of 1357.69, 2504.86, and 2475.38 mg/g for Hg⁰, Hg²⁺, and CH₃Hg⁺, respectively. The adsorbent CT could be reused up to three cycles by eluting elemental mercury using 0.01 N thiourea, inorganic mercury using 0.01 N perchloric acid, and methyl mercury with 0.2 N NaCl.

Clay-Based Nanocomposites as Recyclable Adsorbent toward Hg(II) Capture: Experimental and Theoretical Understanding

Here, we report the development of inorganic-organic hybrid nanocomposites through selective modification of the negative outer surfaces of halloysite nanoclays with two different organosilanes having primary or secondary amine sites to be explored them as novel and cost-effective adsorbents for the extraction of toxic inorganic contaminants from aqueous solution. They possess excellent selectivity for the adsorption of mercury, which shows monolayer molecular adsorption over the nanocomposites. The adsorption kinetics of Hg(II) is very fast and follows pseudo-second-order model compared to pseudo-first-order model. A combined experimental and theoretical study demonstrated that Hg(II) uptake by these nanocomposites is highly favorable and spontaneous up to 40 °C, and beyond this temperature, the uptake capacity gradually reduced. Temperature-dependent adsorption study exhibits endothermicity at low temperature (≤40 °C) and exothermicity beyond 40 °C. pH-dependent adsorption study showed their high uptake capacity until pH 7, which reduced at alkaline pH. All of the nanocomposites hold excellent adsorption capacity even at low concentration of adsorbate, along with multicycle sorption capability. The outstanding adsorption capacity as well as the easy synthetic route to achieve these nanocomposites may attract researchers to develop low-cost adsorbents to capture toxic metals, which in turn regulate the permissible limit of these toxic metals in drinking water.

Magnetic framework composite as sorbent for magnetic solid phase extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography for simultaneous extraction and determination of tricyclic antidepressants

In this study, magnetic framework composites (MFCs) (Fe₃O₄@TMU-10) microspheres were successfully fabricated and applied as an effective sorbent for preconcentration of the two model tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) amitriptyline and imipramine from biological samples. MFCs were fabricated by a step-by-step assembly, novel, simple and efficient strategy. The shell thickness of the Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) could also be easily controlled by tuning the number of assembly cycles. By coupling magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) with high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detector (HPLC-UV), a simple, reliable, fast, sensitive and cost-effective method for simultaneous determination of TCAs was developed. Under optimal conditions, the preconcentration factors and relative recoveries of the studied compounds were obtained in the range of 43-50 and 90.5-99.0% respectively. The calibration curves were obtained in the range of 5-800 μg L^-1 with reasonable linearity (R² > 0.9904) and the limits of detection (LODs) ranged between 2 and 4 μg L^-1 (based on S/N = 3). The relative standard deviations of intra- and inter-day tests ranged from 3.1 to 4.6% and from 4.3 to 5.2%, respectively. The results demonstrate that Fe₃O₄@TMU-10 core-shell magnetic microspheres combine advantages of MOFs and magnetic nanoparticles, and are the promising sorbents for rapid and efficient extraction of target analytes from urine and plasma complex biological samples.

Adsorption of gaseous elemental mercury with activated carbon impregnated with ferric chloride

Fe-based modified activated carbon prepared by impregnation was used for adsorbents in Hg⁰ purification.

Investigations into a thiol-impregnated CaCO3-based adsorbent for mercury removal: a full factorial design approach

We demonstrated removal of Hg⁰ vapor by adsorbing it on thiol-impregnated calcium carbonate and assessed the significance of temperature and thiol mass in Hg⁰ removal.

Effects of Mg2+ on the bivalent mercury reduction behaviors in simulated wet FGD absorbents

This paper studied the bivalent mercury reduction behaviors after Mg(2+) addition in the simulated Ca-based and Dual-Alkali flue gas desulfurization (FGD) absorbents. Experimental results showed that the reduction of bivalent mercury was increased in the Ca-based FGD absorbent and inhibited in the Dual-Alkali FGD absorbent. It was proposed that the former was mainly attributed to the enhanced dissolution and recrystallization of CaSO(3) particles by Mg(2+) addition, which provided more active surface for mercury adsorption and reduction, whilst the latter was mainly due to the formation of neutral MgSO(3)(0) ion pair, which tended to lower the active sulfite concentration in the simulated solution.

Removal of elemental mercury by iodine-modified rice husk ash sorbents

Iodine-modified calcium-based rice husk ash sorbents (I2/CaO/RHA) were synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, and N2 isotherm adsorption/desorption. Adsorption experiments of vapor-phase elemental mercury (Hg0) were performed in a laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactor. I2/CaO/RHA performances on Hg0 adsorption were compared with those of modified Ca-based fly ash sorbents (I2/CaO/FA) and modified fly ash sorbents (I2/FA). Effects of oxidant loading, supports, pore size distribution, iodine impregnation modes, and temperature were investigated as well to understand the mechanism in capturing Hg0. The modified sorbents exhibited reasonable efficiency for Hg0 removal under simulated flue gas. The surface area, pore size distribution, and iodine impregnation modes of the sorbents did not produce a strong effect on Hg0 capture efficiency, while fair correlation was observed between Hg0 uptake capacity and iodine concentration. Therefore, the content of I2 impregnated on the sorbents was identified as the most important factor influencing the capacity of these sorbents for Hg0 uptake. Increasing temperature in the range of 80-140 degrees C caused a rise in Hg0 removal. A reaction mechanism that may explain the experimental results was presumed based on the characterizations and adsorption study.