Sorbent For Removal Of Pollutants Research Articles

Scalable Synthesis of Uniform Nanosized Microporous Carbon Particles from Rigid Polymers for Rapid Ion and Molecule Adsorption.

Porous carbon materials are of great importance for many applications such as energy storage, catalysis, and adsorption. Rational design and low-cost synthesis of carbon structures that can simultaneously offer high surface area and rapid ion/molecule transport properties remain desired for target functions. Here, we report a cost-effective and scalable synthesis of high surface area, size-uniform microporous carbon nanoparticles. A combination of using rigid polymer nanoparticles as the precursor, precarbonization, and activation process leads to carbon nanoparticles with a high surface area (up to 2789 m2 g-1), a large pore volume (up to 1.85 cm3 g-1), and a high packing density (0.5 g cm-3), which is due to the existence of a large amount of highly accessible micropores. Such a unique carbon structure exhibits not only large capacity but also rapid adsorption for both ions and small molecules, demonstrated in high-performance supercapacitors and as an efficient sorbent for removal of pollutants from water. This study provides a new strategy that can be used to further design and tune nanostructured carbon and composite particles to explore many other applications.

Adsorption Behaviors of Organic Micropollutants on Zirconium Metal-Organic Framework UiO-66: Analysis of Surface Interactions.

Herein, we studied the adsorption behaviors of organic micropollutants, such as anticonvulsant carbamazepine (CBZ) and antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride (TC), on zirconium metal-organic framework UiO-66 in water. The maximum adsorption capacities of CBZ and TC on the UiO-66 were 37.2 and 23.1 mg·g-1 at 25 °C, respectively. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics of CBZ and TC were well described by using the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order model, respectively, and the adsorptions on UiO-66 are endothermic reactions. The adsorption capacities of CBZ and TC on UiO-66 were decreased with the increase of solution pH. The presence of humic acid could improve the adsorption of CBZ and TC on UiO-66, but K+ ion inhibited their adsorption obviously. In addition, Ca2+ and Al3+ ions also suppressed the adsorption of TC on UiO-66. The competitive adsorption suggested that the adsorption sites for CBZ on UiO-66 were different from those for TC. The surface interactions between UiO-66 and the two micropollutants were demonstrated by powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectra. The characterizations showed that the adsorption of CBZ on UiO-66 is mainly a physisorption, and the hydrophobic effect played a crucial role during the adsorption of CBZ; meanwhile weak π-π electron donor-acceptor interaction and electrostatic attraction also existed. However, the adsorption of TC on UiO-66 is mainly a chemisorption; in addition to the strong electrostatic attraction and π-π electron donor-acceptor interaction forces, the nitrogenous groups of TC played an important role, which can replace the carboxylic groups coordinated with Zr-O clusters. The obtained results will aid us to comprehend the surface interaction between organic micropollutants and UiO-66 and expand the application of UiO-66 as sorbent for removal of pollutants from water.

Influence of external stimuli on the network properties of cationic poly(N-acryloyl-N’-propyl piperazine) hydrogels

Stimuli-responsive cationic hydrogels based on N-acryloyl-N′-propyl piperazine (AcrNPP) crosslinked with N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (Mba) and 1,4-butanedioldiacrylate (Bda) were prepared by UV light-initiated free-radical polymerization in bulk. The effect of external stimuli and type of crosslinker on the equilibrium swelling behavior and dynamic swelling was investigated in detail in buffer solution of various pH and temperatures. The equilibrium swelling capacity of the gels was large in swelling medium at pH 3.0 than at pH 10.0 due to ionization of polymer network under acidic conditions. With increase in temperature from 25 °C to 45 °C, the gels exhibited negative temperature-responsive (thermo-shrinking/thermophobic) behavior with negative activation energy for diffusion of water. The thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs' free energy (ΔG), enthalpy (ΔH), and entropy (ΔS) for the swelling of gels as function of temperature were negative indicating an exothermic swelling process. Water (media) transport mechanism and diffusion process in thin rectangular gels was studied. At pH 3.0, the diffusion process was non-Fickian (anomalous) while at pH 10.0 it was quasi-Fickian. The transport mechanism was partly influenced by the type of crosslinker in the gel. The dynamic swelling data was analyzed using early-time, late-time and Etters diffusion models. From the equilibrium swelling studies the average molecular weight between crosslinks (Mc), the crosslink density (ρc), and the mesh size (ξ) were determined. The Mc was large at pH 3.0 due to ionization of polymer and chain expansion. The experimental Mc was much larger than the theoretical Mc which implied that the gels were loosely crosslinked real networks. The mesh size of gels were between 447 and 786 Å in the swollen (ionized) state (pH 3.0), and between 100 and 231 Å in the collapsed (non-ionized) state (pH 10.0). The mesh size increased between three to four times during the pH-dependent swelling transition. The state of water in fully swollen hydrogels which influences many important biomaterial properties was determined by differential scanning calorimetry. The bound water content of gels increased linearly with increase in pH of the swelling medium while the unbound water decreased. These hydrogels have potential to be used as controlled drug delivery systems and sorbents for removal of pollutants from water.

Fabrication of highly hydrophobic organic–inorganic hybrid magnetic polysulfone microcapsules: A lab-scale feasibility study for removal of oil and organic dyes from environmental aqueous samples

In this work, three kinds of organic–inorganic hybrid materials (vinyl benzene linear polymer modified SBA-15, attapulgite and halloysite nanotubes) in the shape of powder and the corresponding magnetic polysulfone microcapsules were developed for removal of oil and dyes from environmental aqueous samples, respectively. As determined from the oil and dye adsorption studies, the developed magnetic polysulfone microcapsules exhibited high adsorption capacity of 13.8–17.3g/g for oil. The prepared functionalized materials and the corresponding microcapsules can remove 85.0–91.6% and 81.8–87.8% Sudan I in 80min and 7.6h, respectively. The results showed a significant improvement in their adsorption capacities and removal efficiencies compared to the parent matrices, indicating that the introducing of the vinyl benzene linear polymer was a major factor in the removal of the hydrophobic pollutants. At the same time, the adsorption capacity for the investigated pollutants also depended on the textural feature of matrix itself. In view of the utilization of low-cost clay minerals (attapulgite and halloysite nanotubes), these proposed functionalized materials and the corresponding magnetic polysulfone microcapsules had a great promise to be used as an efficient sorbent for removal of pollutants from environmental aqueous samples.

Removal of some heavy metals ions from wastewater by copolymer of iron and aluminum impregnated with active silica derived from rice husk ash

Recently because of increasing of the environmental awareness and demands, several attempts were carried out for the conversion of by-products of natural materials, especially agricultural wastes, to highly sorption capacity materials. In recent years, attention has been focused on the utilization of unmodified or modified agro-residues as sorbents for removal of pollutants. Various modifications have been reported to enhance sorption capacities for heavy metals. The present study deals with the adsorption equilibrium of iron, manganese, lead and arsenic ions from aqueous solutions on copolymer of Al +3, Si +4 and Fe +3 using batch techniques. The influence of various parameters, such as agitation time, sorbent mass and pH of sorbate solution were investigated. Under this study the maximum adsorption capacity of iron and aluminum copolymer impregnated with silica (PAlFeClSi) for lead, iron, manganese and arsenic are found to be 416, 222, 158, 146 mg/g, respectively.

Evaluation of polyaromatic hydrocarbon removal from aqueous solutions using activated carbon and hyper‐crosslinked polymer (Macronet MN200)

AbstractBACKGROUND: Sorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on activated carbon and the Macronet polymeric sorbent MN200 was investigated to determine the effectiveness of each sorbent for removal of pollutants from aqueous solution and their possible use as sorbent materials for groundwater. Experiments were carried out to determine the loading capacities of a family of PAHs (acenaphthene, anthracene, fluoranthene, fluorene, naphthalene and pyrene).RESULTS: Activated carbon was the more effective sorbent, with maximum loadings of PAHs between 90 and 230 g kg−1, while MN200 resin showed values of 25–160 g kg−1. Loading isotherms based on the Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich–Peterson models were determined. The hydrophobic character of the pollutants appeared as an important parameter related to the sorption process. Equilibrium and kinetic parameters were used to determine the retardation factors for each PAH.CONCLUSION: The calculated values for the simulation of barrier thickness using both sorbents, taking into account EU requirements for PAHs in groundwater effluent, were perfectly reasonable as a first estimate. The better kinetic properties of MN200 are evident in lower hydraulic residence times and consequently in a lower barrier thickness. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry