Efficient adsorption of hexavalent chromium ions onto novel ferrochrome slag/polyaniline nanocomposite: ANN modeling, isotherms, kinetics, and thermodynamic studies

The current research is concerned with the adsorption behavior of chromium (IV) ions in an aqueous solution using a novel ferrochrome slag/polyaniline nanocomposite (FeCr-PANI) adsorbent. The effect of process parameters such as temperature, pH solution, initial Cr (VI) ions concentration, adsorbent dosage, and contact time on the adsorption process is experimentally investigated in this study. Furthermore, we have trained a multilayer artificial neural network (ANN) using the experimental data of various process parameters to successfully predict the adsorption behavior of chromium (IV) ions onto the FeCr-PANI adsorbent. The ANN model was trained using the Lavenberg-Marquardt algorithm and ten neurons in the hidden layer and was able to estimate the % removal efficiency of chromium (IV) under the influence of different process parameters (R² = 0.991). Initial solution pH was observed to have a significant influence on the % removal efficiency. The % removal efficiency was found to be high at 97.10% for the solution with pH 3 but decreased to 64.40% for the solution with pH 11. Cr (VI) % removal efficiency was observed to increase with an increase in solution temperature, adsorbent dosage, and contact time. However, the % removal efficiency was found to decrease from 96.9 to 54.8% with increasing the initial dye concentration from 100 to 400 ppm. Furthermore, the adsorption capacity increased from 9.69 to 21.93 mg/g with an increase in the initial concentration from 100 to 400 ppm, as expected. The Langmuir isotherm model exhibited the best fit with the experimental data (R² = 0.9977). The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 22.523 mg g^-1 at 298 K. The experimental data fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model.

The Effect of Proton and Arsenic Concentration on As(III) Removal by Hematite and Kaolin Complexes

With the intensification of human activities, arsenite (As(III)) pollutant from the soil and ground water has been a threat to human health, and the problem gradually becomes the focus of attention. In this study, the effects of several environment factors on As(III) removal ability of complex minerals are determined through the analysis of mineralogical characteristics of the complex synthesis of hematite and kaolin, using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, and specific surface area. In the results, the XRD patterns of hematite and kaolin complexes indicate that the loading covers up some characteristic peaks of minerals in kaolin, which can be that hematite loading decrease the order of structure for some minerals. With increasing Fe content, the hydroxyl sites gradually increase, therefore strengthening the As(III) removal ability of complexes. With increasing the As(III) concentration, the removal ratios of kaolin on As(III) almost keep unchanged and that of complexes show no obvious regularity. However, with the pH increasing, the removal ratios of all samples keep increasing. Furthermore, the increasing of As(III) concentration and pH both improve As(III) removal amount significantly, especially for As(III) concentration. In addition, there is no forming of new mineral through it as observed by XRD. Therefore, hematite loading can promote the As(III) removal on kaolin through adsorption in different environments, which can provide a better method for the remediation of arsenic pollution.

A Revised Pseudo-Second-Order Kinetic Model for Adsorption, Sensitive to Changes in Adsorbate and Adsorbent Concentrations

The development of new adsorbent materials for the removal of toxic contaminants from drinking water is crucial toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation). The characterization of these materials includes fitting models of adsorption kinetics to experimental data, most commonly the pseudo-second-order (PSO) model. The PSO model, however, is not sensitive to parameters such as adsorbate and adsorbent concentrations (C₀ and C_s) and consequently is not able to predict changes in performance as a function of operating conditions. Furthermore, the experimental conditionality of the PSO rate constant, k₂, can lead to erroneous conclusions when comparing literature results. In this study, we analyze 103 kinetic experiments from 47 literature sources to develop a relatively simple modification of the PSO rate equation, yielding dqtdt=k'Ct(1-qtqe)2. Unlike the original PSO model, this revised rate equation (rPSO) provides the first-order and zero-order dependencies upon C₀ and C_s that we observe empirically. Our new model reduces the residual sum of squares by 66% when using a single rate constant to model multiple adsorption experiments with varying initial conditions. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the rPSO rate constant k' is more appropriate for comparing literature studies, highlighting faster kinetics in the adsorption of arsenic onto alumina versus iron oxides. This revised rate equation should find applications in engineering studies, especially since the rPSO rate constant k' does not show a counter-intuitive inverse relationship with increasing reaction rates when C₀ is increased, unlike the PSO rate constant k₂.

Filler-Modified Castor Oil-Based Polyurethane Foam for the Removal of Aqueous Heavy Metals Detected Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Technique

The use of polymeric material in heavy metal removal from wastewater is trending. Heavy metal removal from wastewater of the industrial process is of utmost importance in green/sustainable manufacturing. Production of absorbent materials from a natural source for industrial wastewater has been on the increase. In this research, polyurethane foam (PUF), an adsorbent used by industries to adsorb heavy metal from wastewater, was prepared from a renewable source. Castor oil-based polyurethane foam (COPUF) was produced and modified for improved adsorption performance using fillers, analyzed with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The fillers (zeolite, bentonite, and activated carbon) were added to the COPUF matrix allowing the modification on its surface morphology and charge. The materials were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermal gravimetry analysis (TGA), while their adsorption performance was studied by comparing the LIBS spectra. The bentonite-modified COPUF (B/COPUF) gave the highest value of the normalized Pb I (405.7 nm) line intensity (2.3), followed by zeolite-modified COPUF (Z/COPUF) (1.9), and activated carbon-modified COPUF (AC/COPUF) (0.2), which indicates the adsorption performance of Pb²⁺ on the respective materials. The heavy metal ions’ adsorption on the B/COPUF dominantly resulted from the electrostatic attraction. This study demonstrated the potential use of B/COPUF in adsorption and LIBS quantitative analysis of aqueous heavy metal ions.

Formation and Aggregation of Lead Phosphate Particles: Implications for Lead Immobilization in Water Supply Systems

Phosphate is commonly added to drinking water to inhibit lead release from lead service lines and lead-containing materials in premise plumbing. Phosphate addition promotes the formation of lead phosphate particles, and their aggregation behaviors may affect their transport in pipes. Here, lead phosphate formation and aggregation were studied under varied aqueous conditions typical of water supply systems. Under high aqueous PO₄/Pb molar ratios (>1), phosphate adsorption made the particles more negatively charged. Therefore, enhanced stability of lead phosphate particles was observed, suggesting that although addition of excess phosphate can lower the dissolved lead concentrations in tap water, it may increase concentrations of particulate lead. Adsorption of divalent cations (Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺) onto lead phosphate particles neutralized their negative surface charges and promoted their aggregation at pH 7, indicating that phosphate addition for lead immobilization may be more efficient in harder waters. The presence of natural organic matter (NOM, ≥ 0.05 mg C/L humic acid and ≥ 0.5 mg C/L fulvic acid) retarded particle aggregation at pH 7. Consequently, removal of organic carbon during water treatment to lower the formation of disinfection-byproducts (DBPs) may have the additional benefit of minimizing the mobility of lead-containing particles. This study provided insight into fundamental mechanisms controlling lead phosphate aggregation. Such understanding is helpful to understand the observed trends of total lead in water after phosphate addition in both field and pilot-scale lead pipe studies. Also, it can help optimize lead immobilization by better controlling the water chemistry during phosphate addition.

Regeneration of mesoporous silica aerogel for hydrocarbon adsorption and recovery

Silica aerogel, with mesoporous structure and high hydrophobicity, is a promising adsorbent for oil spill clean-up. To make it economic and environmental-friendly, hydrocarbon desorption and silica aerogel regeneration were investigated. After hydrocarbon desorption at 80°C, silica aerogel maintained its hydrophobicity. After toluene, petrol, and diesel desorption, shrinkage of mesopores (from 19.9 to 16.8, 13.5, and 13.4nm) of silica aerogels occurred, causing decreased adsorption capacities (from 12.4, 11.2, and 13.6 to 12.0, 6.5, and 2.3g/g). Low surface tension of petrol caused high stress on mesopores during its desorption, resulting in significant pore shrinkage. For diesel, its incomplete desorption and oxidation further hindered the regeneration. Therefore, diesel desorption was also conducted at 200°C. Severe diesel oxidation occurred under aerobic condition and destroyed the mesopores. Under anaerobic condition, no diesel oxidation occurred and the decreases in pore size (to 13.2nm) and adsorption efficiency (to 10.0g/g) of regenerated silica aerogels were much less, compared with under aerobic condition. This study provided new insights on silica aerogel regeneration for oil spill clean-up.

Removal of Methylene Blue from Aqueous Solution Using Agricultural Residue Walnut Shell: Equilibrium, Kinetic, and Thermodynamic Studies

Walnut shell (WS), as an economic and environmental-friendly adsorbent, was utilized to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The effects of WS particle size, solution pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time, and concentration of NaCl on MB removal were systematically investigated. Under the optimized conditions (i.e., contact time ~ 2 h, pH ~ 6, particle size ~ 80 mesh, dye concentration 20 mg/L, and 1.25 g/L adsorbent), the removal percentages can achieve ~97.1%, indicating WS was a promising absorbent to remove MB. Other supplementary experiments, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, were also employed to understand the adsorption mechanisms. FTIR confirmed that the successful adsorption of MB on WS particles was through functional groups of WS. Using DLS method, the interactions between WS particles and dyes under various pH were investigated, which can be ascribed to the electrostatic forces. Kinetic data can be well fitted by the pseudo-second-order model, indicating a chemical adsorption. The adsorption isotherms were well described by both Langmuir and Freundlich models. Dubinin-Radushkevich model also showed that the adsorption process was a chemical adsorption. Thermodynamic data indicated that the adsorption was spontaneous, exothermic, and favorable at room temperature.