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Molecules
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Novel Green Adsorbents and Their Applications
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Novel Green Adsorbents and Their Applications

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Cross-Field Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 9318

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dimitrios Kalderis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electronic Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Chania, 73100 Crete, Greece
Interests: biochar; hydrochar; carbon-based nanocomposite materials; hydrothermal carbonization; biomass utilization for the production of added-value materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ioannis Anastopoulos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, University of Ioannina, UoI Kostakii Campus, 47100 Arta, Greece
Interests: wastewater treatment; adsorption; soil pollution; heavy metals; dyes; pharmaceuticals; climate change; composting
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past three decades, there has been an increasing interest in the development of novel adsorbents from sustainable biomasses. Depending on location, these biomasses can be processed and converted to added-value materials as part of circular bio-economy approach. Green adsorbents are cost-effective filter materials often with high affinity, capacity, and selectivity to interact with contaminants in either soil, wastewaters, or natural waters. The list of green adsorbents is extremely extensive, including biochars, hydrochars, and activated carbons from agricultural solid wastes and industrial by-products; agro-food wastes; industrial by-products; natural products, e.g., clays, hemp, flax, and cotton; and biological materials such as dead biomass, living plants, algae, biopolymers, and fungi.

The main aim of this Special Issue on “Novel Green Adsorbents and their Applications” is to gather recent findings and current advances on new biomasses as feedstocks, reproducible and low-cost production methodologies, and applications of biosorbents in soil remediation, natural water, and wastewater treatment. Cases of both organic and inorganic contaminants are within the scope of this Special Issue. Pilot- and field-scale studies, life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analyses, as well as application of the adsorbents for the removal of emerging contaminants, are particularly welcome.

Dr. Dimitrios Kalderis
Dr. Ioannis Anastopoulos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biomass
  • adsorption
  • bio-sorption
  • sustainability
  • biochar
  • carbon
  • emerging contaminants

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3275 KiB  
Article
Co-Pyrolysis of Cotton Stalks and Low-Density Polyethylene to Synthesize Biochar and Its Application in Pb(II) Removal
by Xiaowei Yuan, Xuejun Zhang, Huijie Lv, Yonggang Xu and Tianxia Bai
Molecules 2022, 27(15), 4868; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27154868 - 29 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1201
Abstract
It is inevitable that reclaimed cotton stalks will contain a certain amount of plastic film due to the wide application of plastic mulching during the process of cotton cultivation, and this makes it inappropriate to return it to the field or for it [...] Read more.
It is inevitable that reclaimed cotton stalks will contain a certain amount of plastic film due to the wide application of plastic mulching during the process of cotton cultivation, and this makes it inappropriate to return it to the field or for it to be processed into silage. In this study, biochars were prepared by the co-pyrolysis of cotton stalk with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in the proportions of 1:0, 3:1, 2:1, and 1:1 (w/w) at 400 °C, 450 °C, and 500 °C and maintaining them for 1 h. The effects of the co-pyrolysis of cotton stalk with LDPE on the properties of biochars (e.g., pH, yield, elemental analysis, specific surface area, etc.) and the Pb(II) removal capacity were analyzed. Co-pyrolysis cotton stalks with LDPE could delay the decomposition of LDPE but could promote the decomposition of cotton stalk. At 400 °C and 450 °C, the addition of LDPE decreased the H/C ratio, while no significant difference was found between the pristine biochar and the blended biochar pyrolyzed at 500 °C. An FTIR analysis indicated that the surface functional groups of biochar were not affected by the addition of LDPE, except for CH3 and CH2. The results of the SEM showed that LDPE could cover the surface of biochar when pyrolyzed at 400 °C, while many macropores were found in the blended biochar that was pyrolyzed at 450 °C and 500 °C, thus increasing its surface area. The blended biochar that was pyrolyzed at 500 °C was more effective in the removal of Pb(II) than the cotton-stalk-derived biochar, which was dominated by monolayer adsorption with a maximum adsorption capacity of approximately 200 mg·g−1. These results suggested that the co-pyrolysis of cotton stalks and LDPE may be used to produce biochar, which is a cost-effective adsorbent for heavy metal removal from aqueous solutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Green Adsorbents and Their Applications)
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19 pages, 2992 KiB  
Article
Theoretical, Equilibrium, Kinetics and Thermodynamic Investigations of Methylene Blue Adsorption onto Lignite Coal
by Naim Hasani, Teuta Selimi, Altin Mele, Veprim Thaçi, Jeton Halili, Avni Berisha and Makfire Sadiku
Molecules 2022, 27(6), 1856; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27061856 - 12 Mar 2022
Cited by 41 | Viewed by 4079
Abstract
The interaction of methylene blue (MB) dye with natural coal (collected from coal landfills of the Kosovo Energy Corporation) in aqueous solutions was studied using adsorption, kinetics, and thermodynamic data, and Monte Carlo (MC) calculations. In a batch procedure, the effects of contact [...] Read more.
The interaction of methylene blue (MB) dye with natural coal (collected from coal landfills of the Kosovo Energy Corporation) in aqueous solutions was studied using adsorption, kinetics, and thermodynamic data, and Monte Carlo (MC) calculations. In a batch procedure, the effects of contact duration, initial MB concentration, pH, and solution temperature on the adsorption process were examined. The Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R) isotherms were used to examine the equilibrium adsorption data. The equilibrium data fit well to the Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherm models; however, the Freundlich model suited the adsorption data to a slightly better extent than the Langmuir model. The kinetics experimental data was fitted using pseudo-first-order, first-order, pseudo-second-order, second-order, Elvoich equation, and diffusion models. The pseudo-second-order rate model manifested a superlative fit to the experimental data, while the adsorption of MB onto coal is regulated by both liquid film and intraparticle diffusions at the same time. Thermodynamic parameters, such as Gibbs free energy (ΔG0), enthalpy (ΔH0), and entropy (ΔS0) were calculated. The adsorption of MB was confirmed to be spontaneous and endothermic. The theoretical results were in agreement with the experimental ones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Green Adsorbents and Their Applications)
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25 pages, 5162 KiB  
Article
Process Parameters Optimization, Characterization, and Application of KOH-Activated Norway Spruce Bark Graphitic Biochars for Efficient Azo Dye Adsorption
by Marine Guy, Manon Mathieu, Ioannis P. Anastopoulos, María G. Martínez, Frédéric Rousseau, Guilherme L. Dotto, Helinando P. de Oliveira, Eder C. Lima, Mikael Thyrel, Sylvia H. Larsson and Glaydson S. dos Reis
Molecules 2022, 27(2), 456; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27020456 - 11 Jan 2022
Cited by 61 | Viewed by 2807
Abstract
In this work, Norway spruce bark was used as a precursor to prepare activated biochars (BCs) via chemical activation with potassium hydroxide (KOH) as a chemical activator. A Box–Behnken design (BBD) was conducted to evaluate and identify the optimal conditions to reach high [...] Read more.
In this work, Norway spruce bark was used as a precursor to prepare activated biochars (BCs) via chemical activation with potassium hydroxide (KOH) as a chemical activator. A Box–Behnken design (BBD) was conducted to evaluate and identify the optimal conditions to reach high specific surface area and high mass yield of BC samples. The studied BC preparation parameters and their levels were as follows: pyrolysis temperature (700, 800, and 900 °C), holding time (1, 2, and 3 h), and ratio of the biomass: chemical activator of 1: 1, 1.5, and 2. The planned BBD yielded BC with extremely high SSA values, up to 2209 m2·g−1. In addition, the BCs were physiochemically characterized, and the results indicated that the BCs exhibited disordered carbon structures and presented a high quantity of O-bearing functional groups on their surfaces, which might improve their adsorption performance towards organic pollutant removal. The BC with the highest SSA value was then employed as an adsorbent to remove Evans blue dye (EB) and colorful effluents. The kinetic study followed a general-order (GO) model, as the most suitable model to describe the experimental data, while the Redlich–Peterson model fitted the equilibrium data better. The EB adsorption capacity was 396.1 mg·g−1. The employment of the BC in the treatment of synthetic effluents, with several dyes and other organic and inorganic compounds, returned a high percentage of removal degree up to 87.7%. Desorption and cyclability tests showed that the biochar can be efficiently regenerated, maintaining an adsorption capacity of 75% after 4 adsorption–desorption cycles. The results of this work pointed out that Norway spruce bark indeed is a promising precursor for producing biochars with very promising properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Green Adsorbents and Their Applications)
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