Treated Pine Cone Research Articles

Effect of pine cone filler particle size and treatment on the performance of recycled thermoplastics reinforced wood composites

Present research studied the effect of 5% alkali treatment and size of pine cone (Pinus Roxburgii Sargent) on the mechanical performance. Recycled thermoplastic waste and alkali treated pine cone of different size has manufactured using microwave-assisted compression molding (MACM) technique. The MACM technique has used because of inherent benefits of less cost, time and energy consumption while manufacturing the wood composites. To explore the feasibility of uses of wood composites in different applications, mechanical performance i.e., tensile and flexural test were performed. Mechanical tests were employed to examine the influence of pine cone particle size on mechanical performance of the composite. This study revealed that wood composite having treated pine cone filler and fine particle size showed enhanced mechanical performance.

Synthesis of poly (hydroxamic acid) ligand for removal of Cu (II) and Fe (II) ions in a single component aqueous solution

Biosorbents are the alternatives for the removal of heavy metals because they are cheaper and more effective. This is attributed to the metallic elements interactions with the functional groups on the surface of the adsorbent. Additionally, the surface of biosorbents can further be improved by pretreatment and modification leading to the formation of functional derivatives onto the cellulose backbone. In this study pine cone powder was pretreated using Fenton reagent and modified by grafting with acrylic acid in order to enhance structural characteristics of the material. Grafting of acrylic acid onto Fenton treated pine cone powder was achieved by a free radical procedure in which ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) was used as an initiator. Furthermore, a new poly (hydroxamic acid) ligand was synthesized from the poly(acrylic acid) grafted pine cone powder for heavy metal ions removal from aqueous media. The observed FTIR bands that shifted from 1727 cm−1 shifted to 1616 cm−1 confirmed that ester functional groups were converted to hydroxamic acid groups, which was further confirmed by elemental analysis results. The poly (hydroxamic acid) ligand was further characterized by TGA/DTA, XRD, SEM-EDS techniques. The TGA/DTA results revealed that the poly(acrylic acid) grafted pine cone powder had better thermal stability. The XRD spectra revealed that the structure of pine cone powder is composed mainly of crystalline cellulose. The SEM results indicated that the grafted pine cone powder showed a smooth surface, which is an indication that the acrylic acid was coated on the surface of the Fenton treated pine cone powder. It further revealed a coarse surface the poly (hydroxamic acid) ligand confirming the conversion of the carboxyl group to hydroxamic acid group. The linear Langmuir isotherm plot gave an R2 values of 0.9997 for Cu (II), 0.9961 Fe (II) biosorption while Freundlich isotherm plot R2 values were 0.9581 for Cu(II) and 0.9671 Fe (II) biosorption. These results demonstrate that the Freundlich isotherm was not a good fit to describe the process of adsorbed metal ions and their equilibrium concentration in solution. The theoretical values qe (mg g−1) of the pseudo second order model compared with those for the pseudo first order kinetic model agree with the experimental value qe (mg g−1). Therefore, these results confirm the chemisorption of Cu (II) and Fe (II) onto poly (hydroxamic acid) ligand.

Batch biosorption removal of total organic carbon from laundry aqueous media using raw pine and acid/microwave irradiation treated pine cone powder

Batch biosorption removal of total organic carbon from laundry aqueous media using raw pine and acid/microwave irradiation treated pine cone powder

Thermodynamic, kinetic and spectroscopic investigation of arsenite adsorption mechanism on pine cone-magnetite composite

Adsorptive removal of arsenite from wastewater often involves pre-oxidation to the less toxic arsenate followed by adsorption. Materials capable of simultaneous oxidation and adsorption could potentially improve the treatment of arsenic contaminated water. A novel magnetic composite consisting of Fenton’s treated pine cone, an agricultural waste and magnetite nanoparticles was prepared and applied to achieve simultaneous arsenite oxidation and adsorptive removal. A mechanistic investigation of the adsorption process was conducted to provide insights into the interaction of arsenite and the composite surface. X-ray diffraction peaks of the nanoparticles matched those of synthetic magnetite and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that Fe2+/Fe3+ ratio was in accordance with that of magnetite at 0.5. Arsenite removal efficiency by the as-synthesised composite was approximately 90% with a maximum adsorption capacity of 17 mg g−1. Kinetic studies revealed that arsenic adsorption was a multi-step process with surface adsorption and intra-particle diffusion contributing to the rate limiting step. Ion exchange was evident from the release of pre-loaded nitrate ions during arsenite adsorption. Spectroscopic evidence confirmed ion exchange through the observance of hydroxyl peak shift, reduction in intensity of carboxylate peaks and AsOFe bond formation during adsorption. Further, XPS results confirmed that there was simultaneous reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+, oxidation of arsenite to arsenate and adsorption of both arsenite and arsenate on the composite surface through the formation of inner sphere complexes.

Acid activation pine cone waste at differences temperature and selective removal of Pb2+ ions in water

This study reports potential application of pine cones (PC) and acids treated pine cone at as adsorbents for removal of Pb2+ ions in water. Two different types of acids were used for the treatment of PC at different activation temperature, with the following combination of hydrochloric -acid treated PC at 25°C (PC-H25) and 50°C (PC-H50); phosphoric-acid treatmented PC at 25°C (PC-P25) and 50°C (PC-P50). The basic physicochemical properties of PC, both before and after acid treatment, were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and elemental analysis (EA). Bath adsorption experiments on Pb2+ ions were optimized in term of pH, adsorbent dose, reaction time and initial concentration of Pb2+ ions. It was estimated through adsorption isotherm analysis that adsorption capacities of PC-H25, PC-P25, PC-H50 and PC-P50 on Pb2+ ions were 132.6, 108.2, 148.3 and 119.8mg/g, respectively. Desorption studies revealed the promising regeneration potential of PC, PC-H25, PC-H50, PC-P25 and PC-P50. It was found that the percentage removal of Pb2+ was maintained at more than 60% as compared to the initial value, even after 5 adsorption–desorption cycles. Furthermore, the adsorption costs required for removal of Pb2+ ions using PC, PC-P25, PC-P50, PC-H25, PC-H50 were estimated to be 1.6, 11.5, 17.5, 6.7 and 8 US$/kg, respectively. Based on these findings, PC and acid-treated PC could be used as low-cost, eco-friendly and effective adsorbents for the Pb2+ removal from water.

Application of raw and modified pine biomass material for cesium removal from aqueous solution

The growing investment in nuclear power has led to increasing concentrations of radionuclides in the ecosystem near nuclear facilities, therefore cheap and efficient filter materials for removal of these radionuclides needs to be designed to handle effluent waters from these facilities. The study investigates the use of hexacyanoferrate complex immobilized on chemically treated pine cone (TPC) biomass as an effective adsorbent. Raw pine cone (RPC) was treated with toluene–ethanol mixture to extract plant components and modified with hexacyanoferrate complex (HPC).Properties of RPC, TPC and HPC such as pHPZC, bulk density and surface area, and types of functional groups on the sorbent surface were determined. The batch kinetic uptake of cesium ions onto RPC, TPC and HPC were modelled using the Elovich and pseudo-nth order model kinetic models. Equilibrium modelling was also performed using the Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips isotherm. The results revealed that the adsorption is monolayer for all biosorbents with the modified adsorbent having the highest capacity of 8.74mg/g which was also confined by the Sips isotherm. The Cs+ adsorption data for TPC and HPC were better fitted to the pseud-nth order model suggesting ion exchange mechanism while the RPC was better fitted to the Elovich model. Desorption analysis was also used to confirm ion-exchange mechanism.

Kinetics and competitive modeling of cesium biosorption onto iron(III) hexacyanoferrate modified pine cone powder

This study looked at incorporation of iron(III) hexacyanoferrate onto chemically treated pine cone via iron(III) surface loading and its application for cesium (Cs) adsorption in the presence of alkali/alkali earth metals. The optimum iron(III) loading concentration was 2.50 mol l−1 at pH 7, while optimum hexacyanoferrate (HCF) loading was achieved at a hexacyanoferrate concentration of 0.26 mol l−1. The best-fitting kinetic model was confirmed using the closeness of the predicted equilibrium capacities to the experimentally determined capacity, three error determination methods, and the comparative plots of predictive and experimental uptake of Cs with time. The adsorption rate constants were reduced by alkali/alkali metal addition and the reduction was higher in the HCF-modified pine. The mechanism of Cs adsorption onto raw pine followed the pseudo-second-order model and involved stripping of the hydration water from the metal ion. The presence of Na+ did not alter the adsorption mechanism but Ca2+ addition changed the best-fitting model to pseudo-first-order. The diffusion-chemisorption model best fitted Cs adsorption onto HCF-modified pine and involved adsorption of Cs in its hydrated form, which migrated easily through the zeolite-like lattice of hexacyanoferrate. Addition of Na+ and Ca2+ changed the best-fitting model to a pseudo-first-order model.

The grafting of acrylic acid onto biosorbents: Effect of plant components and initiator concentration

Acrylic acid was grafted onto raw and Fenton's reagent treated pine cone using KMnO4 as initiator to determine the effect of plant organic components on grafting process. Concentration of the KMnO4 was varied between 0.0005 and 0.0200mol/dm3 and progress of the initiation process monitored using ORP and change in hydrogen ion concentration (ΔH+).The optimum ratio for Fenton's modification was Fe2+/H2O2=1/50 which corresponds to the highest leaching of plant components and having the least bulk density, ORP and ΔH+. It was observed that increasing KMnO4 concentration, reduced the MnO2 deposited on the pine surface, increased Mn3+ production in bulk solution while reducing grafting efficiency but increasing homopolymer formation. Radical formation on the raw pine cone was found to be lower as seen from the lower ORP and ΔH+ values observed at similar grafting conditions.Plant organic components was observed to affect the grafting efficiency and monomer conversion as observed from the weight increase, surface charge and FTIR analysis of the acrylic acid grafted Fenton's reagent treated pine and the raw pine.Optimum dye removal did not correspond to highest grafting efficiency.

Removal of anionic dye Congo red from aqueous solution by raw pine and acid-treated pine cone powder as adsorbent: Equilibrium, thermodynamic, kinetics, mechanism and process design

Pine cone a natural, low-cost agricultural by-product in Australia has been studied for its potential application as an adsorbent in its raw and hydrochloric acid modified form. Surface study of pine cone and treated pine cone was investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The modification process leads to increases in the specific surface area and decreases mean particle sizes of acid-treated pine cone when compared to raw pine cone biomass. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to remove anionic dye Congo red from aqueous solution. It was found that the extent of Congo red adsorption by both raw pine cone biomass and acid-treated biomass increased with initial dye concentration, contact time, temperature but decreased with increasing solution pH and amount of adsorbent of the system. Overall, kinetic studies showed that the dye adsorption process followed pseudo-second-order kinetics based on pseudo-first-order and intra-particle diffusion models. The different kinetic parameters including rate constant, half-adsorption time, and diffusion coefficient were determined at different physico-chemical conditions. Equilibrium data were best represented by Freundlich isotherm model among Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models. It was observed that the adsorption was pH dependent and the maximum adsorption of 32.65mg/g occurred at pH of 3.55 for an initial dye concentration of 20ppm by raw pine cone, whereas for acid-treated pine cone the maximum adsorption of 40.19mg/g for the same experimental conditions. Freundlich constant ‘n’ also indicated favourable adsorption. Thermodynamic parameters such as ∆G0, ∆H0, and ∆S0 were calculated. A single-stage batch absorber design for the Congo red adsorption onto pine cone biomass also presented based on the Freundlich isotherm model equation.

Kinetic modeling of the interaction between copper(II) and calcium hydroxide treated pine cone powder

Base treatment of pine cone has been shown to improve several of its biosorpotion properties for heavy metal ions in solution. The kinetic behavior of the copper(II)-pine cone powder system was studied with the variation of several process variables including solution pH, initial concentration and temperature. Several kinetic models were also applied to the kinetic data to determine the role of surface and diffusion interactions. The pseudo-second order model provided the best fit to the Kinetic data while both pore and film diffusion were dominating depending on reaction conditions.

Biosorption of copper(II) and lead(II) onto potassium hydroxide treated pine cone powder

Pine cone powder surface was treated with potassium hydroxide and applied for copper(II) and lead(II) removal from solution. Isotherm experiments and desorption tests were conducted and kinetic analysis was performed with increasing temperatures. As solution pH increased, the biosorption capacity and the change in hydrogen ion concentration in solution increased. The change in hydrogen ion concentration for lead(II) biosorption was slightly higher than for copper(II) biosorption. The results revealed that ion-exchange is the main mechanism for biosorption for both metal ions. The pseudo-first order kinetic model was unable to describe the biosorption process throughout the effective biosorption period while the modified pseudo-first order kinetics gave a better fit but could not predict the experimentally observed equilibrium capacities. The pseudo-second order kinetics gave a better fit to the experimental data over the temperature range from 291 to 347 K and the equilibrium capacity increased from 15.73 to 19.22 mg g −1 for copper(II) and from 23.74 to 26.27 for lead(II). Activation energy was higher for lead(II) (22.40 kJ mol −1) than for copper(II) (20.36 kJ mol −1). The free energy of activation was higher for lead(II) than for copper(II) and the values of ΔH* and ΔS* indicate that the contribution of reorientation to the activation stage is higher for lead(II) than copper(II). This implies that lead(II) biosorption is more spontaneous than copper(II) biosorption. Equilibrium studies showed that the Langmuir isotherm gave a better fit for the equilibrium data indicating monolayer coverage of the biosorbent surface. There was only a small interaction between metal ions when simultaneously biosorbed and cation competition was higher for the Cu-Pb system than for the Pb-Cu system. Desorption studies and the Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm and energy parameter, E, also support the ion-exchange mechanism.

Kinetic and Pseudo-Second-Order Modeling of Lead Biosorption onto Pine Cone Powder

The sorption of lead(II) onto pine cone powder (PCP) and 0.15 mol/L NaOH treated pine cone powder (PCP 0.15), an abundant agricultural waste from the wood industry, was studied to evaluate the effect of NaOH treatment on the kinetics of lead(II) uptake by performing batch kinetic sorption experiments. Batch biosorption kinetics was performed by varying biosorbent dose and initial lead(II) concentration and the kinetic data modeled using the pseudo-first, pseudo-second intraparticle, and Bangham diffusion models. The results revealed that NaOH treatment changed the pattern of the biosorption kinetics, the biosorption kinetic parameters, and influenced the rate-limiting step. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model gave a better fitting of the kinetic data for both PCP and PCP 0.15. The batch biosorption model, based on the pseudo-second-order mechanism, was applied to predict the rate constant of biosorption, the equilibrium capacity, the initial sorption rate, the effects of biosorbent dose, and initial lea...

Dynamic studies and pseudo-second order modeling of copper(II) biosorption onto pine cone powder

The chemical interaction between biosorbent functional groups and metal ion species in solution can slightly be altered by chemical treatment of biosorbent surface. The biosorbent kinetics and mechanism for copper(II) biosorption onto pine cone powder and 0.15moldm−3 NaOH treated pine cone powder were determined during batch kinetics with the variation in biosorption temperature and initial copper(II) concentration. Results from this study revealed that surface diffusion of copper(II) is not rate-controlling as observed by the failure of both the pseudo-first and modified pseudo-first order model to discribe the kinetic data. The pseudo-second order model gave a better description of the kinetic data and was able to correlate the model constants with process variables for both samples. Activation energies and thermodynamic parameters of activation obtained from the pseudo-second order model all indicate that the mechanism for copper(II) biosorption on both samples differ. The diffusion partten is complex for the biosorption process, involving pore and film diffusion in the rate determining step and did not follow the same pattern for both samples. Pseudo-isotherms were generated to confirm the fit of the experimental data to the predictions of the pseudo-second order model. It was observed that the generated isotherm data fitted better to the Pseudo-Langmuir-1 isotherm indicating that biosorption was indeed a monolayer coverage of the biosorbent surface confirming the applicability of this model. Effect of initial solution pH and desorption studies confirm the predominance of a slightly different mechanism using both samples.