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Advances in Wastewater Treatment: Adsorption Mechanism, Isotherms, Kinetics and Reusability

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 20330

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Dr. Wei Wei

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School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
Interests: water and soil remediation; environmental functional materials; colloid and interface science; apatite materials; biochar; potential toxic metals; emmergent contaminants; fate and transport of nanomaterials/nanoplastics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water is an essential part of life, and its availability is very important for all living creatures. However, increased industrialization and the excessive use of toxic chemicals have caused severe water contamination problems. Globally, about 359 billion cubic metres of wastewater is produced each year. The wastewater must be treated before being discharged into a waterbody. Nowadays, there is a continuously increasing worldwide concern regarding the development of more effective techniques for wastewater treatment. Particularly, adsorption has long been considered to be a readily available technology for the treatment of wastewater due to its high efficiency, low cost, flexible design, ease of operation, and the possibility of reusing its adsorbent. During recent decades, great efforts have been devoted to the application of adsorption technology for water/wastewater treatment, which have achieved significant results in adsorption performances, models and mechanisms. However, the growing number of novel adsorbents and aqueous contaminants make adsorption processes more complicated with respect to adsorption mechanisms, isotherms and kinetics. Furthermore, the development of low-cost, highly efficient, and reusable adsorbents has led to the rapid growth of research interests in this field.

This Special Issue aims to provide selected contributions on the wastewater treatment process by adsorption technology using various adsorption processes. I warmly invite researchers to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that address adsorption mechanisms, isotherms, kinetics and reusability in wastewater treatment.

Dr. Wei Wei
Guest Editor

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. Water 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 2600 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

adsorption in water
batch adsorption
column adsorption
nanomaterials
natural and synthetic adsorbents
mineral adsorbents
biochar adsorbents
carbon adsorbents
iron based adsorbents
water and wastewater treatment

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3137 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Stripping of Cu Ion from Aquatic Media by Means of MgY₂O₄@g-C₃N₄ Nanomaterials

by Abueliz Modwi, Hajo Idriss, Lotfi Khezami, Abuzar Albadri, Mukhtar Ismail, Aymen Amine Assadi and Phuong Nguyen-Tri

Water 2023, 15(6), 1188; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w15061188 - 19 Mar 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1723

Abstract

In this study, quaternary MgY₂O₅@g-C₃N₄ nanomaterials were produced using a simplistic ultrasonic power technique in the presence of an organic solvent, and their capability to abolish Cu (II) from an aqueous solution was evaluated. As validated by powder X-ray diffraction, the synthesized nanomaterials possessed excellent crystallinity, purity, and tiny crystalline size. According to BET and TEM, the nanomaterials with high porosity nanosheets and perfect active sites made Cu (II) removal from water treatment feasible. At a pH of 3.0, the MgY₂O₅@g-C₃N₄ displayed good Cu (II) adsorption capability. The Cu (II) adsorption adhered to the Langmuir adsorption model, with an estimated theoretical maximum adsorption aptitude of 290 mg/g. According to the kinetics investigation, the adsorption pattern best fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. Depending on the FTIR results of the nanocomposite prior to and after Cu (II) uptake, surface complexation and ion exchange of Cu (II) ions with surface hydroxyl groups dominated the adsorption of Cu (II). The MgY₂O₅@g-C₃N₄ nanomaterials have great potential as adsorbents for Cu (II) removal due to their easy manufacturing process and high adsorption capacity. Additionally, the reuse of MgY₂O₄@g-C₃N₄ nanomaterials was tested through the succession of four adsorption cycles using HNO₃. The result showed the good stability of this material for mineral pollution removal. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wastewater Treatment: Adsorption Mechanism, Isotherms, Kinetics and Reusability)

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13 pages, 781 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Competitive Adsorption of Quaternary Metal Ions, Ni²⁺, Mn²⁺, Cr⁶⁺, and Cd²⁺, on Acid-Treated Activated Carbon

by Malyuba A. Abu-Daabes, Edrees Abu Zeitoun and Wafa Mazi

Water 2023, 15(6), 1070; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w15061070 - 10 Mar 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2029

Abstract

This paper examined the competitive removal of metal ions from quaternary aqueous solutions containing Ni²⁺, Mn²⁺, Cr⁶⁺, and Cd²⁺ using adsorption on both acid-modified and unmodified activated carbon. Activated carbon (AC) was oxidized with nitric acid, both in granular (AGC) and powder (APC) forms, and tested for the competitive adsorption of Ni²⁺, Mn²⁺, Cr^6+, and Cd²⁺ from an aqueous solution. Surface oxidation led to a reduction in BET surface area and HK pore width and an increase in the intensities of hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups for both AGC and APC compared to unmodified activated carbon, AC, as indicated with BET and FTIR analyses. The adsorption capacity of all four metal ions on AC was in the order Ni²⁺ > Cd²⁺ > Cr⁶⁺ > Mn²⁺, while it was altered for the two oxidized AGC and APC carbons to be Cr⁶⁺ > Ni²⁺ > Cd²⁺ > Mn²⁺. Acid treatment resulted in high selectivity for Cr⁶⁺ over all other available ions with a 100% removal efficiency, while it decreased for Ni²⁺, Cd^2+, and Mn²⁺ compared to AC. This improvement in Cr⁶⁺ adsorption is due to its higher ionic potential and smaller size, which results in a faster diffusion and stronger adsorption to the acidic groups located at the pore edges. Therefore, it will repel and hinder other ions from accessing the activated carbon pores. Modeling of the adsorption isotherms with DKR was better than both Freundlich and Langmuir for the competitive ions. DKR showed strong attraction for both Ni²⁺ and Cd²⁺ by ion exchange on the AC surface, as indicated by their apparent adsorption energy (E) values. Cr⁶⁺ adsorption was found to be by physical adsorption on AC and by ion exchange on both AGC and APC. Mn²⁺ ions had a very weak attraction to all types of tested activated carbons in the presence of other ions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wastewater Treatment: Adsorption Mechanism, Isotherms, Kinetics and Reusability)

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15 pages, 5121 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Removal of Cu(II) Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Ferrochrome Ash: Investigation of Mechanism and Kinetics

by Erdoğan Uğurlu, Burak Birol, Metin Gencten and Yahya Bayrak

Water 2023, 15(6), 1063; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w15061063 - 10 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1775

Abstract

The release of Cu into water is an immediate concern that negatively affects environmental health. To eliminate this problem, the adsorption of Cu(II) on varying substances has been studied widely for two decades. The utilization of low-cost adsorbents obtained from industrial wastes hits two targets with one arrow. In the present study, ferrochrome ash (FCA) obtained from the baghouse filters of ferrochrome facilities was utilized to adsorb Cu(II) for the first time in the literature. To achieve this goal, initially the FCA was characterized by XRD, XRF, SEM, EDS, and BET analyses, and then washing and grinding pretreatment was conducted to eliminate the Cr dissolution and increase the surface area of the FCA. Adsorption experiments were conducted in 100–1000 mg/L Cu(II) solution on 0.4–8 g/L FCA for 0–300 min. As a result, it was concluded that a maximum adsorption capacity was obtained as 298.75 mg/g, which makes the FCA an applicable adsorbent for Cu(II) adsorption. Additionally, a pH range of 3–6 is favorable. The Cu(II) adsorption on FCA fits the pseudo-second order (PSO) kinetics and Freundlich isotherm models well. The Cu(II)-adsorbed FCA was investigated by SEM, EDS, and FT-IR analyses. According to the results, it can be deduced that the adsorption mechanism is chemisorption, which involves the valency forces between the metal and the adsorbent. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wastewater Treatment: Adsorption Mechanism, Isotherms, Kinetics and Reusability)

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25 pages, 3478 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Response Surface Modelling of Methylene Blue Adsorption onto Seaweed, Coconut Shell and Oak Wood Hydrochars

by Eric Danso-Boateng, Melissa Fitzsimmons, Andrew B. Ross and Ted Mariner

Water 2023, 15(5), 977; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w15050977 - 03 Mar 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2148

Abstract

Adsorption of methylene blue (MB) dye from an aqueous solution onto hydrochars produced from brown seaweed (Fucus Serratus) (FS-HC), coconut shell (CS-HC), and oak wood (Oak-HC) at different temperatures (200–250 °C) was investigated in a batch system. Response surface modelling (RSM) was used to investigate the effect of initial MB concentration (50–300 mg/L), contact time (0–240 min), and solution pH (2–12) on the adsorption process. RSM was also used to model and optimise these parameters for efficient adsorption. Kinetic and isotherms studies were carried out to study the adsorption mechanism onto the hydrochars. It was found that the best adsorbent from the RSM model was FS-HC200, and the optimal conditions for greater MB dye uptake were lower initial MB concentration (50 mg/L), pH 6 and contact time of 84 min; removing >99% of MB. Langmuir and Redlich–Peterson isotherm models fitted the adsorption of MB onto hydrochars prepared at 200 and 250 °C. Freundlich and Redlich–Peterson isotherms were suitable for hydrochars produced at 220 °C. FS-HCs have the highest maximum adsorption capacity of MB of about (8.60–28.57) mg/g calculated from the Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption process for all the hydrochars followed a pseudo-second-order model (R² = 0.96–1.00), and film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion were the rate-determining steps. Therefore, this work identifies cheap adsorbents from biowaste that are effective for the removal of cationic pollutants from wastewater. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wastewater Treatment: Adsorption Mechanism, Isotherms, Kinetics and Reusability)

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21 pages, 6832 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Removal of Naphthalene, Fluorene and Phenanthrene by Recyclable Oil Palm Leaves’ Waste Activated Carbon Supported Nano Zerovalent Iron (N-OPLAC) Composite in Wastewater

by Hifsa Khurshid, Muhammad Raza Ul Mustafa and Zeyneb Kilic

Water 2023, 15(5), 967; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w15050967 - 02 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2176

Abstract

Despite keen interest in the development of efficient materials for the removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in wastewater, the application of advanced composite materials is still unexplored and needs attention. Therefore, this study focused on the synthesis of the composite of oil palm leaves’ waste activated-carbon (OPLAC) and nano zerovalent iron (NZVI) at Fe:OPLAC = 1:1 (N-OPLAC-1) and 1:2 (N-OPLAC-2). The composite with enhanced surface properties was applied for removal of three PAHs including naphthalene (NAP), fluorene (FLU) and phenanthrene (PHE) in wastewater at various pH, dosages, contact time and initial concentration in batch testing. The PAHs’ removal parameters were optimized using design expert software. The PAHs’ removal efficiency was evaluated in produced water at optimized parameters. The results showed that the N-OPLAC-2 had superior surface properties compared to N-OPLAC-1. The removal of NAP, FLU and PHE was heterogenous, favorable and involved chemisorption proved by Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models using N-OPLAC-2. The optimum parameters were as follows: pH of 3, dosage and contact time of 122 mg/L and 49 min, respectively. The application of N-OPLAC-2 in produced water was favorable for removal of NAP, FLU and PHE and showed up to 90% removal efficiency, and higher stability up to 3 cycles. It can be concluded that the NZVI-OPLAC composite was successfully synthesized in this study and the materials showed good removal efficiency for three PAHs (NAP, FLU and PHE) in wastewater. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wastewater Treatment: Adsorption Mechanism, Isotherms, Kinetics and Reusability)

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16 pages, 3238 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Chlorine vs. Sodium Chloride Regeneration of Zeolite Column for Ammonium Removal from an Explosives Impacted Mining Wastewater

by Tianguang Zhang, Roberto M. Narbaitz, Majid Sartaj and Jason Downey

Water 2022, 14(19), 3094; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14193094 - 01 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2065

Abstract

There has only been limited research on ammonium removal by zeolites followed by chlorine regeneration; these studies used batch tests and, in many cases, only dealt with single solute solutions as opposed to multi-component ones. To better simulate full-scale applications, this study used a continuous-flow ion exchange (IE) column system to assess the feasibility of chlorine regeneration of a zeolite IE column used for the removal of ammonium from synthetic explosives impacted mining wastewater (EIMWW). Multi-cycle column loading-regeneration tests were used to evaluate and compare the performance of a NaOCl (1000 ppm as free Cl₂) solution with that of a standard salt regeneration solution (5% NaCl). In addition, the impact of two loading cycle durations was evaluated. After three operational cycles with 6 h loading phases, the TAN (total ammonia nitrogen) uptake after NaOCl regeneration was almost the same as that obtained with salt regeneration (0.21 meq/g vs. 0.21 meq/g). The zeolite with NaOCl regeneration showed a higher preference for TAN than with NaCl regeneration (Ca:TAN:K = 2.8:2.3:1 vs. 2.5:1.9:1 for the 6 h loading phase); however, the NaOCl regeneration took longer to complete. It was also found that effluent pH, total chlorine level, and free chlorine level during the chlorine regeneration were positively related, seemingly confirming that the ammonium is oxidized to nitrogen gas and producing hydrogen ions. Regardless of the regeneration solution, if one uses a two-column system, with one column online and the other offline, the shorter loading cycles (6 h) yield a substantially higher daily TAN removal rate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wastewater Treatment: Adsorption Mechanism, Isotherms, Kinetics and Reusability)

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14 pages, 2817 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adsorption Mechanism of High-Concentration Ammonium by Chinese Natural Zeolite with Experimental Optimization and Theoretical Computation

by Pan Liu, Aining Zhang, Yongjun Liu, Zhe Liu, Xingshe Liu, Lu Yang and Zhuangzhuang Yang

Water 2022, 14(15), 2413; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14152413 - 04 Aug 2022

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2587

Abstract

Natural zeolite, as an abundant aluminosilicate mineral with a hierarchically porous structure, has a strong affinity to ammonium in solutions. Adsorption mechanism of high-concentration ammonium (1000~4000 mg-N/L) in an aqueous solution without pH adjustment onto Chinese natural zeolite with the dosage of 5 g/L was revealed by the strategy of experimental optimization integrated with Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation, and found the maximum ammonium adsorption capacity was 26.94 mg/g. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm analysis showed that this adsorption process fitted better with descriptions of the pseudo-second-order kinetics and Freundlich model. The theoretical calculations and infrared-spectrum characterization results verified the existence of hydrogen bonds and chemisorption. Therefore, the adsorption mechanism by natural zeolites of high-concentration NH₄⁺ is defined as a process under the joint influence of multiple effects, which is mainly promoted by the synergy of the ion exchange process, electrostatic attraction, and chemisorption. Meanwhile, the hydrogen bond also plays an auxiliary role in this efficient adsorption. This study presents important theoretical significance for enriching the mechanism of zeolites adsorbing NH₄⁺ from water, and provides reference and theoretical guidance for further exploring the potential application of natural zeolites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wastewater Treatment: Adsorption Mechanism, Isotherms, Kinetics and Reusability)

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12 pages, 2059 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Adsorption of Tannic Acid and Macromolecular Humic/Fulvic Acid onto Polystyrene Microplastics: A Comparison Study

by Junsuo Li, Shoucheng Ma, Xinying Li and Wei Wei

Water 2022, 14(14), 2201; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14142201 - 12 Jul 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2706

Abstract

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) has been widely reported to influence the environmental behavior of microplastics (MPs), but little is known about the properties and mechanisms of interaction between specific DOM components and MPs. Here, we studied the adsorption of three representative DOM components (humic acid, HA; fulvic acid, FA; and tannic acid, TA) on polystyrene (PS) MPs in batch adsorption experiments. Results revealed that HA/FA adsorption was greater under acidic conditions, while higher TA adsorption on PS was found at pH 4 and 6. The divalent cation (Ca²⁺) exerted a more prominent role in enhancing HA, FA, and TA adsorption on PS than did monovalent ones (K⁺ and Na⁺). The adsorption process fitted well with the Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. The adsorption site heterogeneity was evaluated using the site energy distribution analysis based on the Freundlich model. The greater binding ability of HA on the PS surface caused a more negatively charged surface than FA/TA, as reflected by Zeta potential values. The findings of this study not only provide valuable information about the adsorption behavior and interaction processes of various DOM components on PS MPs, but also aid our efforts to evaluate the environmental behaviors of MPs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wastewater Treatment: Adsorption Mechanism, Isotherms, Kinetics and Reusability)

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12 pages, 1373 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Sorption of Perfluorinated and Pharmaceutical Compounds in Plastics: A Molecular Simulation Study

by Siphesihle Mangena Khumalo, Matthew Lasich, Babatunde Femi Bakare and Sudesh Rathilal

Water 2022, 14(12), 1951; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14121951 - 17 Jun 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2112

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of temperature and degree of polymerisation on the thermodynamic interaction of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) into plastics. The occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern such as pharmaceutical drugs, PFCs, microplastics (MPs), etc., in sources of drinking water have posed significant health risks to aquatic life and humans in recent years. These organic pollutants can interact with MPs and pose much higher health risks; consequently, MPs become a transport vector and thus alter their migration as well as occurrence in the environment. The purpose of this paper is to examine the adsorption mechanism of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), and sulfamethazine (SMT)—relative to water—on polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) using an extended Flory–Huggins approach. The results suggest that in an aqueous environment, both PFOA and PFOS may be taken up preferentially by PP and PE, although less strongly by PE. The degree of polymerisation of PE and PP did not significantly influence the observed behaviour. In terms of sorption affinity, the observed affinity was PFOA>PFOS>SMT which was consistence for both PE and PP. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Wastewater Treatment: Adsorption Mechanism, Isotherms, Kinetics and Reusability)

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