Abstract
Aluminum production industry tailings are considered as hazardous solid wastes accompanied by a variety of serious disposal, environmental, and public health issues. This study is devoted to presenting a promising solution for dealing with such problems. Within the scope of the present study, synthesis of nanostructured γ-alumina from aluminum foundry tailing using a novel process was presented. The proposed process will provide a multilateral advantage to both environment and industries. Firstly, the amount of tailing and accordingly, disposal cost could be partly lessened; secondly, the environmental pollution can be reduced, and finally, if possible, green production of advanced materials from this kind of waste at a rational expense can bring about the conservation of natural sources and also gain economic benefits. Characterization of the as-synthesized products was performed using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) for crystalline phase analysis, chemical composition, chemical bond recognition, morphology, elemental analysis, and particle size distribution, respectively. The chemical composition analyzed by XRF indicated that the as-synthesized alumina exhibits a purity of more than 97 wt%. The XRD pattern majorly possessed characteristic peaks related to the gamma phase of alumina. Microstructural analyses by FESEM and TEM confirmed the nano-sized morphology of the as-synthesized γ-alumina.
Highlights
Speaking, industrial development is accompanied by serious problems such as the release of large amounts of waste into the environment and depletion of natural resources
Aluminum foundry tailing (AFT) was provided by an aluminum company located in Arak city, Iran
The results of the chemical analysis show that the AFT contains a high percentage of aluminum oxide
Summary
Industrial development is accompanied by serious problems such as the release of large amounts of waste into the environment and depletion of natural resources. The safe disposal of wastes and their respective costs have caused critical challenges for various industries [1]. Industrial wastes are accumulated over time, resulting in environmental and public health problems. When the solid waste particles are dispersed in the air, breathing them could cause pulmonary diseases. International Nano Letters (2018) 8:255–261 production, recycling, and waste management have been converted into important research fields [5, 6]. As a consequence of such concerns, ‘green’ synthesis has been worthy of great importance for a sustainable and safe generation of nanomaterials [7]. Many green synthetic methods have been developed for the synthesis of nanoparticles using bio and secondary sources [8,9,10,11,12]
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