Synthesis and characterization of a novel Ca-alginate-biochar composite as efficient zinc (Zn2+) adsorbent: Thermodynamics, process design, mass transfer and isotherm modeling

Novel biochar-filled hydrogel composites: Assessment of multifunctionality and potential in environmental applications

Hydrogels (HGs) are hydrophilic 3D-cross-linked polymers applied, inter alia, to improve soil resistance to drought. Their combination with biochar (BC), a product of biomass pyrolysis, can result in obtaining specific composites characterized by the advantages of both initial materials. The BC introduction into HG can double its swelling degree and increase their sorption capacity by more than threefold compared to the pure HG. Furthermore, the composites are able to increase plants biomass (up to 160%), even under heavy metal contamination, and are characterized by lower nutrient release rate (up to 25%) in comparison to the pure hydrogels. This review explores the properties of biochar-filled hydrogel composites, including swelling degrees and ability to absorb heavy metals and other toxic compounds. Additionally, it discusses their agricultural applications as soil conditioners and slow-release fertilizers, covering their effects on water and nutrient retention in the soil, soil microbial activity, as well as plant performance under contamination and drought stress. Finally, the cost-economic assessment and future prospects of these novel materials were proposed. The BC-filled HGs were considered as highly promising soil amendments, but their application potential depended entirely on the development of new production technologies and the investigation of interactions occurring between the composites and the selected soil components.

Deep analysis of adsorption isotherm for rapid sorption of Acid Blue 93 and Reactive Red 195 on reactive graphene

Graphene-based adsorbent was prepared by adopting a green synthetic route via the chemical exfoliation of graphite and low-temperature thermal activation. Prepared reactive graphene (RG) was characterized through various techniques, and its adsorption capabilities for textile dye removal were investigated for Acid Blue-93 (AB) and Reactive Red-195 (RR) under different operational conditions. The dye sorption equilibrium and mechanism were comprehensively studied using isotherm and kinetic models and compared statistically to explain the sorption behavior. Results show AB and RR adsorption by RG attains equilibrium in 60 min and 70 min, with a high sorption quantity of 397 mg g-1 and 262 mg g-1 (initial dye concentration of 100 mg L-1), respectively. The dye sorption anticipates that the high surface area (104.52 m2 gm-1) and constructed meso-macroporous features of RG facilitated the interaction between the dye molecules and graphitic skeleton. The R-P isotherm fitted the best of equilibrium data, having the least variance in residuals for both dyes (AB = 0.00031 and RR = 0.00047). The pseudo-second order model best fitted the kinetics of sorption on RG, with chemisorption being the predominant process delimiting step. The overall results promise the dye removal capability of RG to be an efficient adsorbent for azo-based dyes from textile effluents.

Removal of zinc from wastewaters using Turkish bentonite and artificial neural network [ANN] modeling

In this study, Ordu-Unye bentonite was used as an adsorbent in the removal of zinc from aqueous solutions. The aim of the experimental part of the study was to ascertain how zinc removal was affected by variables such as pH, adsorbent amount, contact time, and initial zinc concentration. In the second part of the experiments, bentonite was modified with two different acids and the adsorption performance of modified bentonite was also investigated. Characterization of raw and modified bentonites was also carried out using FTIR and XRD. It was observed that acid modification of bentonite negatively affected the zinc removal process from aqueous solutions. In this study, higher zinc removal (95 %) was obtained with raw bentonite compared to acid modified bentonites (58.4 % in HNO3 activated, 43.8 % for H2SO4 activated). Equilibrium isotherms were obtained and modelled to explain the adsorption mechanism. Adsorption isotherm studies showed that zinc adsorption fits well with Langmuir (R2: 0.99) and Temkin (R2: 0.97) models. Besides from these experimental investigations, various artificial neural network (ANN) training techniques were used to optimize the zinc adsorption process. By trial and error, the optimal performance was obtained by changing the number of hidden neurons in each layer of the neural network architecture. These models under study were analyzed to determine their R2 and mean square error (MSE) values, and the optimal outcomes were identified. Among the various training models of ANN, it was determined that the Bayesian Regularization method exhibited the optimum network architecture with the highest R2 (R2:0.995) and lowest MSE (MSE:0.0008) ratio.

Green magnetic carbon/alginate biocomposite beads from iron scrap waste for efficient removal of textile dye and heavy metal

The circular economy can help enhance the value of industrial waste and remediate the environment. This study considers the application of iron scrap from steel production as a free resource to produce magnetic adsorbent beads to remove methylene blue dye and lead (II) ions from wastewater. Composite beads were prepared by incorporating iron scrap and activated carbon into a calcium alginate gel using a simple 'mix and drop' synthesis. The optimized magnetic beads were stable and offered a large specific surface area. The maximum adsorption capacity of the adsorbent, calculated from the Langmuir isotherm model, was 476.19 mg g-1 for methylene blue and 163.93 mg g-1 for lead (II) ions. This study places emphasis upon the zero-waste principle and employs a scalable synthetic approach for the conversion of waste iron scrap into an adsorbent material capable of delivering significant environmental benefits.

Reduced and oxidized rice straw biochar for hexavalent chromium adsorption: Revisiting the mechanism of adsorption

Surface oxygen functional groups of biochar were tuned by oxidation and reduction of biochar for establishing Cr(VI) adsorption mechanism. Oxygen functional groups (OFGs) on the surface of leached rice straw biochar (LBC4-6) obtained from pyrolysis at 400, 500 and 600 °C, were oxidized to furnish OBC4-6 using modified Hummer's method. Reduced biochar RBC4-6 were obtained by esterification and NaBH4/I2 reduction of oxidized biochar (OBC4-6). The modified biochar were characterized by increase in O/C and H/C ratio, respectively, in case of OBC4-6 and RBC4-6. The Cr(VI) adsorption by modified biochar LBC4-6, OBC4-6, and RBC4-6 showed optimum conditions of pH 3 and dose 0.1 g/L with a good non-linear fit for Langmuir & Freundlich isotherm. The maximum adsorption (Qm) followed the trend: OBC4 (17.47 mg/g) > RBC4 (15.23) > OBC5 (13.23) > LBC4 (10.23) > RBC5 (9.83) > OBC6 (9.60) > RBC6 (7.24) > LBC5 (6.32) > LBC6 (5.98). The adsorption kinetics for adsorption of Cr(VI) on to modified biochar fits pseudo second order (PSO), Elovich and intraparticle diffusion kinetics, showing a chemisorptions in case of biochar L/O/RBC4-6. The lower temperature modified biochar O/RBC4 show better Cr(VI) adsorption. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) studies establish optimum OFGs for reduction of Cr(VI) and chelation of the reduced Cr(III). Adsorption and stripping cycles show the oxidized and reduced biochar as better adsorbents with excellent stripping of Cr up to >98 % upon desorption with 1 M NaOH.

Synthesis of Biomass-Derived Activated Carbons and Their Immobilization on Alginate Gels for the Simultaneous Removal of Cr(VI), Cd(II), Pb(II), As(III), and Hg(II) from Water

Low-cost alginate gels of activated carbons were prepared, which were derived from the peels of banana and sweet lime. The synthesized carbon was activated and immobilized on alginate, producing its gel. These gels were categorized according to their methods of drying, in which air drying, freeze drying, and supercritical drying led to the formation of xerogels, cryogels, and aerogels, respectively. The gels were used for adsorption of heavy metals from their aqueous solution. The heavy metals that were targeted for removal were Pb(II), Cd(II), Cr(VI), As(III), and Hg(II). Among all the adsorbents, the alginate cryogel of sweet lime-derived activated carbon (SLACC) showed the highest removal percentage of heavy metals, and thus, it was used for batch study. The adsorption of heavy metals by SLACC was checked at different times, pH values, adsorbent doses, temperatures, and adsorbate concentrations. The study revealed that the pseudo-second-order model best described the kinetic study, while the adsorption followed the Freundlich isotherm. SLACC showed maximum adsorption capacities (q _cal) of 3.71, 4.22, 20.04, 7.31, and 4.37 mg/g for Cr, Cd, Pb, As, and Hg, respectively, when 20 mg of SLACC was used for the removal of 4 ppm concentration of the targeted heavy metals from their 20 mL solution. Based on the thermodynamic study, it was found that the adsorption was spontaneous and exothermic. Furthermore, the adsorbent was also used on real water samples and showed up to 90% removal efficiency for these targeted heavy metals. SLACC was regenerated with 0.1 M ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) solution and reused for five cycles, in which the percentage removal of heavy metals was more than 50% till the fourth cycle. Furthermore, the leaching study showed that no toxic elements had leached from SLACC into water, making it a safe adsorbent.

Adsorption of caffeine using steel wastes

Caffeine is the most widespread active pharmaceutical compound in the world, generally studied as a tracer of human pollution, since caffeine levels in surface water correlate with the anthropogenic load of domestic wastewater. This work investigated the use of different steel wastes named as SW-I, SW-II, SW-II, SW-IV, SW-V, and SW-VI in the adsorption of caffeine. These materials were pretreated and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and point of zero charge. The samples are mainly composed of iron (hematite and magnetite). The caffeine adsorption test indicated that SW-VI (steel slag dust) is the most efficient and promising (removal around 51.68%) in relation to the other residues, which it was selected for further studies. Equilibrium time was reached within 96 h of contact between the adsorbent and the adsorbate, with removal of 84.00%, 81.09%, and 73.19% for the initial concentrations of 10 mg L-1, 20 mg L-1, and 30 mg L-1 of caffeine. The pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and Elovich models presented a good fit to the experimental data. However, the pseudo-first order model described better the experimental behavior. Adsorption isotherms were performed at three temperatures (298, 308, and 318 K). The maximum adsorption capacity was 17.46 ± 2.27 mg g-1, and experimental data were better fitted by the Sips isotherm. Values of ΔG° and parameters equilibrium of the models of Langmuir, Sips, and Temkin were calculated from the standard enthalpies and standard entropies estimated. The values of ΔG° were negative for the temperatures studied indicating that the adsorption process is viable and spontaneous. Negative values for ΔH° were also found, indicating that the process of caffeine adsorption by SW-VI is an exothermic process (0 to -40 kJ mol-1). Thus, the adsorption of caffeine by SW-VI is a physical process. The SW-VI material showed economic viability and promising for the adsorption of caffeine in aqueous media.

Adsorptive Behavior of Cu2+ and Benzene in Single and Binary Solutions onto Alginate Composite Hydrogel Beads Containing Pitch Pine-Based Biochar

In this study, we prepared alginate composite hydrogel beads containing various compositions of biochar produced from pitch pine (Pinus rigida) for the removal of Cu2+ and benzene from model pollutant solutions. The properties of the alginate/biochar hydrogel beads were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer−Emmet−Teller analyses. Adsorption behavior of alginate/biochar hydrogel beads indicated that the adsorption capacities for Cu2+ (28.6−72.7 mg/g) were enhanced with increasing alginate content, whereas the adsorption capacities for benzene (20.0−52.8 mg/g) were improved with increasing biochar content. The alginate/biochar hydrogel beads exhibited similar adsorption capacities for Cu2+ and benzene in the concurrent system with Cu2+ and benzene compared to those in a single pollutant system. Adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies of the alginate/biochar hydrogel beads followed the pseudo-second-order model (r2 = 0.999 for Cu2+, and r2 = 0.999 for benzene), and Langmuir model (r2 = 0.999 for Cu2+, and r2 = 0.995 for benzene). In addition, alginate/biochar hydrogel beads (containing 1 and 4% biochar) exhibited high reusability (>80%). Therefore, alginate/biochar hydrogel beads can be applied as adsorbents for the removal of multiple pollutants with different properties from wastewater.

Effective mitigation of single-component and mixed textile dyes from aqueous media using recyclable graphene-based nanocomposite

The present study reported the synthesis and utilization of a graphene-based hybrid nanocomposite (MnFe₂O₄/G) to mitigate several synthetic dyes, including methylene blue, malachite green, crystal violet, and Rhodamine B. This adsorbent was structurally analyzed by several physicochemical techniques such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherm measurement, point of zero charge, and Boehm titrations. BET surface area of MnFe₂O₄/G was measured at 382.98 m²/g, which was substantially higher than that of MnFe₂O₄. MnFe₂O₄/G possessed diverse surface chemistry properties with the presence of many functional groups such as carboxylic acid, phenolic, lactone, and basic groups. MnFe₂O₄/G was used to remove synthetic dyes in the aqueous media. The effect of many factors, e.g., concentration (5-50 mg/L), pH (4-10), dose (5-20 mg), and temperature (25-45 °C) on adsorption performance of MnFe₂O₄/G was conducted. Kinetic, isotherm, intraparticle, and thermodynamic models were adopted for investigating adsorption phenomenon of dyes on MnFe₂O₄/G. The maximum adsorption capacity of dyes over MnFe₂O₄/G was found as Rhodamine B (67.8 mg/g) < crystal violet (81.3 mg/g) < methylene blue (137.7 mg/g) < malachite green (394.5 mg/g). Some tests were performed to remove mixed dyes, and mixed dyes in the presence of antibiotics with total efficiencies of 65.8-87.9% after 120 min. Moreover, the major role of π-π stacking interaction was clarified to gain insight into the adsorption mechanism. MnFe₂O₄/G could recycle up to 4 cycles, which may be beneficial for further practical water treatment.

Removal of levofloxacin from aqueous solution by green synthesized magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles using Moringa olifera: Kinetics and reaction mechanism analysis

Levofloxacin antibiotic is frequently being detected in the environment and regarded as an emerging contaminant. The present study was focused on the green synthesis of magnetite (Fe₃O₄ - gINPs) nanoparticles from Moringa olifera and its efficiency for removal of levofloxacin from aqueous solution. The adsorbent magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄) were prepared by green synthesis using Moringa olifera and coprecipitation method. Characterizations analyses of both chemically and green synthesized nanoparticles were performed by SEM, XRD, and FTIR. The average crystallite size of gINPs was 14.34 nm and chemically synthesized was 18.93 nm. The performance of the synthesized product was evaluated by adsorption capacity and removal efficiency. The parameters considered included adsorbent (gINPs) dosage, initial concentration of adsorbate, pH, contact time, and temperature. The obtained data were fitted to kinetic and isotherm models to determine the mechanism. Adsorption batch experiments were conducted to determine the reaction mechanism by studying kinetics while fitting isotherm models for samples analyzed using HPLC at 280 nm. Results showed that 86.15% removal efficiency of 4 mg L^-1 levofloxacin was achieved by 100 mg L^-1 gINPs in 24 h contact time when all other parameters (pH 7, temperature 25 °C) were kept constant. The maximum adsorption capacity achieved at equilibrium was 22.47 mg/g. Further, it was identified as a pseudo-second-order model with R² = 0.965 for adsorption kinetics while isotherm data better fitted to the Freundlich model compared to Langmuir isotherm with R² = 0.994. The potential pathway determined for levofloxacin removal was chemisorption with minor diffusion, multilayer, spontaneous and exothermic processes on the gINPs (Fe₃O₄). Reusability experiments were conducted in four cycles and removal efficiency varied from 85.35% to 80.47%, indicating very high potential of the adsorbent for re-use.

Synthesis and characterization of γ-MnO2/chitosan/Fe3O4 cross-linked with EDTA and the study of its efficiency for the elimination of zinc(II) and lead(II) from wastewater

In this research, a novel γ-MnO₂/chitosan/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite was synthesized and modified by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) for the separation and simultaneous elimination of Zn(II) and Pb(II) ions from aqueous solutions in a batch system. The magnetic nanocomposite was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and elemental analysis (EDAX). The results demonstrated that the magnetic nanocomposite was successfully synthesized and cross-linked. The predominant influential experimental parameters including pH, contact time, initial concentration, and temperature were analyzed in relation to the adsorption capacity. The experimental data were well converged with the double exponential kinetic model. Also, the results were well matched with the Langmuir isotherm, where the maximum adsorption values were 310.4 and 136 mg g^-1 for Pb(II) and Zn(II), respectively. On the other hand, in the binary-component system, the Langmuir-Freundlich model dominated the experimental data. The thermodynamic results (ΔG° < 0, ΔH° > 0, and ΔS° > 0) within the temperature range of 25-40 °C showed that the nature of adsorption by the nanocomposite for both ions was spontaneous and endothermic and was favored at higher temperatures. The simultaneous removal of two ions, the excellent magnetic separation, and the high efficiency in reuse (five effective recovery cycles) indicated the high capability of the EDTA-modified γ-MnO₂/chitosan/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite in the treatment of industrial effluents from Pb(II) and Zn(II).

Batch and fixed-bed column adsorption of tetrabromobisphenol A onto metal organic resin: equilibrium, kinetic and mechanism studies

MORs were prepared through fabricating MOFs and resin for effective TBBPA removal in fix-bed column experiments from contaminated waters.

Preparation of magnetic hydrogel microspheres of lignin derivate for application in water

A low-cost and well-separated approach is introduced for adsorption pollutants in water. Chemical modified lignin is prepared with diethylenetriamine to enhance the reaction activities, then used to prepare lignin derivate magnetic hydrogel microspheres (LDMHMs) via blending with Fe₃O₄. The LDMHMs are successful prepared by the determination of FT-IR data, and the morphology shown from SEM imagine indicates the LDMHMs are in nanosized. The prepared LDMHMs are used as adsorbents for organic dyes, such as methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO) and malachite green (MG), the plateaus data are 43 mg/g, 39 mg/g and 155 mg/g, respectively. For inorganic pollutions, such as Pb²⁺, Hg²⁺ and Ni²⁺, the plateaus data are 33 mg/g, 55 mg/g and 23 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption data of unmodified lignin are 2.6 mg/g (Pb²⁺), 3.3 mg/g (Hg²⁺), 2.1 mg/g (Ni²⁺), 8 mg/g (MB), 10 mg/g (MG) and 2 mg/g (MO) in the same condition. The adsorbents are recycled by magnetic separation, regenerating from acid condition and reused for multiple cycles. The regeneration ratios are all above 90%, indicating a highly reusability and further reducing the cost of the treatment.

Process Optimization Study of Zn2+ Adsorption on Biochar-Alginate Composite Adsorbent by Response Surface Methodology (RSM)

A novel biochar alginate composite adsorbent was synthesized and applied for removal of Zn2+ ions from aqueous solution. Kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamic studies showed the suitability of the adsorbent. From a Langmuir isotherm study, the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of the composite adsorbent was found to be 120 mg/g. To investigate the effect of process variables like initial Zn2+ concentration (25–100 mg/L), adsorbent dose (0.4–8 g/L) and temperature (298–318 K) on Zn2+ adsorption, response surface methodology (RSM) based on a three independent variables central composite design of experiments was employed. A quadratic model equation was developed to predict the relationship between the independent variables and response for maximum Zn2+ removal. The optimization study reveals that the initial Zn2+ concentration and adsorbent dose were the most effective parameters for removal of Zn2+ due to higher magnitude of F-statistic value which effects to a large extent of Zn2+ removal. The optimum physicochemical condition for maximum removal of Zn2+ was determined from the RSM study. The optimum conditions are 43.18 mg/L initial metal ion concentration, 0.062 g adsorbent dose and a system temperature of 313.5 K. At this particular condition, the removal efficiency of Zn2+ was obtained as 85%.