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Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents

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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 (25 November 2019) | Viewed by 46770

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Dr. Tushar Kanti Sen

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1. Chemical Engineering Department, King Faisal University (KFU), P.O. Box 380, Hofuf, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
2. Chemical Engineering, WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
Interests: water research; wastewater treatment; adsorption at solid/liquid interface; biosorption; anaerobic digestion and dewatering of wastewater sludge; rheology of slurry/sludge; chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR)
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Dear Colleagues

Water pollution occurs when potential pollutants from various industrial and other human activities are directly and indirectly discharged into water bodies without adequate treatment. These pollutants may be inorganic or organic contaminations, such as heavy metal ions, radioactive elements, dyes, surfactants and other hydrocarbons. Among the various separation techniques in water pollution control, adsorption is considered to be a superior technique because of its simple design, universal nature, high effectiveness, ease of operation and regeneration. When our water is polluted it is not only devastating to the environment but also to human health. Further there are various federal and state government and environmental protection agencies who strictly enforce regulations on minimizing pollutants from liquid discharge effluent streams. Therefore sustainable cost-effective development of removal techniques to alleviate such water pollution has been a challenging and demanding task for engineers, scientists, academics and researchers. In view of the importance of water quality and the environmental aspect, it is considered worthwhile to address the state-of-the-art of adsorption for the removal of water pollutants using various sustainable cost-effective alternative adsorbents. The nature and types of adsorbents are the main controlling parameters for effectiveness of the adsorption process. Therefore, the present Special Issue entitled “Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents” aims at the publication of original research or review papers on the removal of inorganic/organic pollutants from water using various non-conventional, alternative, cost-effective adsorbents derived from natural biomass and clay minerals. The overall scope includes up-to-date developments on the current state of knowledge of clay minerals and various agricultural biomass-based adsorbents and their applications in the broad field of separation and purifications of water pollutants. Specifically, the topics of this special issue include, but are not restricted to:

Occurrence and sources of pollutants in water and wastewaters and their implications in health/environment
The synthesis, characteristics of biomass adsorbents, clay minerals and new emerging alternative adsorbents, composite adsorbents and their adsorptive effectiveness in water purification under various physicochemical process parameters
Kinetics, thermodynamics and equilibrium: experimental data, novel theories, and models
Adsorption calculations and modelling
Continuous column process and process design: packed bed and moving bed systems, experiments and dynamic modelling

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tushar Kanti Sen
Guest Editor

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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

Water pollution
Adsorptive separation technique
Agricultural by-product solid waste adsorbents
Clay minerals
Wastewater treatment
Nanomaterials in wastewater treatment
Anaerobic digestion
Conditioning agents in dewatering
Sludge rheology

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2228 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Activated Carbons Derived from Teak Sawdust-Hydrochars for Efficient Removal of Methylene Blue, Copper, and Cadmium from Aqueous Solution

by Hai Duy Nguyen, Hai Nguyen Tran, Huan-Ping Chao and Chu-Ching Lin

Water 2019, 11(12), 2581; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11122581 - 06 Dec 2019

Cited by 34 | Viewed by 4341

Abstract

Recycling materials from waste has been considered one of the essential principles in the context of sustainable development. In this study, we used teak sawdust as the feedstock material to synthesize activated carbon (AC) samples and evaluated the application of these ACs in the adsorption of methylene blue (MB), Cd(II), and Cu(II). The sawdust was carbonized by a hydrothermal process, followed by chemical activation using K₂CO₃ or ZnCl₂ in various weight ratios. The AC samples produced were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photon spectroscopy, and mass titration of acidic groups. The characterization results showed that the ACs did possess a high surface area and rich oxygen-containing functional groups. The adsorptive amounts of MB, Cd(II), and Cu(II) on ACs approximately increased with the concentration of the activating agent: when the weight ratio of the carbonaceous material to ZnCl₂ reached 1.75, the maximum adsorption capacities for MB, Cd(II), and Cu(II) were achieved, and the values were 614, 208, and 182 mg/g, respectively. The level of oxygen-containing functional groups was identified as an important factor in determining the adsorptive amounts. While the electrostatic force was the primary pathway that led to the adsorption of the tested contaminants onto the AC, the complexation reaction was a vital mechanism responsible for the adsorptive interaction between ACs and Cu(II). The high adsorption capacity of the synthetic ACs for MB, Cd(II), and Cu(II) demonstrated in this study points out the potential application of biomass-residue-based adsorbents prepared via a coupled hydrothermal carbonization/chemical activation process in wastewater treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents)

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19 pages, 2477 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Activated Carbon from Yam Peels Modified with Fe₃O₄ for Removal of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid in Aqueous Solution

by Udualdo Herrera-García, Jefferson Castillo, David Patiño-Ruiz, Ricardo Solano and Adriana Herrera

Water 2019, 11(11), 2342; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11112342 - 08 Nov 2019

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 4398

Abstract

The removal of organic pollutants from water sources can be enhanced using suitable adsorbents. The aim of this research was to study the adsorption capacity and potential reuse of a magnetic adsorbent prepared from agricultural wastes of yam peels (Dioscorea rotundata) for 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic (2,4-D) acid removal. The procedure was performed through carbonization and activation at 400 and 500 °C, respectively. Then, the as-prepared activated carbon (AC) was chemically modified using magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles. The AC and magnetic activated carbon (MAC) were characterized and then used for batch adsorption and regeneration tests at different pH, initial concentrations of 2,4-D, and temperature. AC and MAC were showed to have microporous structures with surface areas of 715 and 325 m²/g, respectively. Superparamagnetic behavior was observed for MAC with a saturation magnetization of 6 emu/g. The results from the batch experiments showed higher adsorption capacity at high initial concentration of 2,4-D, low pH, and room temperature. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that the experiments proceeded as exothermic and spontaneous adsorption. Our findings also showed that MAC can be separated from the water medium through a facile magnetic procedure, and from regeneration experiments, MAC showed better results with 60% of its initial adsorption capacity after five cycles. Hence, MAC was found to be a promising alternative adsorbent of pesticides in water. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents)

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18 pages, 3497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimisation and Modelling of Pb(II) and Cu(II) Biosorption onto Red Algae (Gracilaria changii) by Using Response Surface Methodology

by Mubeen Isam, Lavania Baloo, Shamsul Rahman Mohamed Kutty and Saba Yavari

Water 2019, 11(11), 2325; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11112325 - 07 Nov 2019

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 4469

Abstract

The removal of Pb(II) and Cu(II) ions by using marine red macroalgae (Gracilaria changii) as a biosorbent material was evaluated through the batch equilibrium technique. The effect of solution pH on the removal of metal ions was investigated within the range of 2–7. The response surface methodology (RSM) technique involving central composite design (CCD) was utilised to optimise the three main sorption parameters, namely initial metal ion concentration, contact time, and biosorbent dosage, to achieve maximum ion removal. The models’ adequacy of response was verified by ANOVA. The optimum conditions for removal of Pb(II) and Cu(II) were as follows: pH values of 4.5 and 5, initial concentrations of 40 mg/L, contact times of 115 and 45 min, and biosorbent dosage of 1 g/L, at which the maximum removal percentages were 96.3% and 44.77%, respectively. The results of the adsorption isotherm study showed that the data fitted well with the Langmuir’s model for Pb(II) and Cu(II). The results of the adsorption kinetic study showed that the data fitted well with the pseudo-second order model for Pb(II) and Cu(II). In conclusion, red alga biomass exhibits great potential as an efficient low-cost sorbent for removal of metal ions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents)

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19 pages, 5634 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The-Proof-of-Concept of Biochar Floating Cover Influence on Water pH

by Zhanibek Meiirkhanuly, Jacek A. Koziel, Andrzej Białowiec, Chumki Banik and Robert C. Brown

Water 2019, 11(9), 1802; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11091802 - 29 Aug 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4200

Abstract

Studies have shown that biochar has the potential to remove organic and inorganic contaminants from wastewater. pH is known to have a crucial role in the transformation of pollutants. In this research, we explore the feasibility of using biochars properties to control the pH near the water–air interface, so the gaseous emissions from water (or wastewater) could be mitigated. This study aimed to test the effects of a thin layer biochar addition on the spatial and temporal variation of water pH. Two types of biochar and water were tested. Highly alkaline porous (HAP; pH 9.2) biochars made of corn stover and red oak (RO; pH 7.5) were applied surficially to tap (pH 9.5) and deionized water (DI) (pH 5.4). The spatial pH of solutions was measured every 1 mm of depth on days 0, 2, and 4 after biochar application. The results showed that HAP biochar increased the pH of both tap and DI water, while RO decreased tap water pH and increased DI water pH. On day 0, there was no effect on tap water pH, while a pH change in DI water was observed due to its lower buffer capacity. In addition, the pH (temporal) migration from topically applied biochar into an aqueous solution was visualized using a colorimetric pH indicator and corn starch to increase viscosity (to prevent biochars from sinking). The results prove that the surficial application of biochar to water was able to change both the pH near the water–air interface and the pH of the solution with time. The pH change was dependent on the biochar pH and water buffer capacity. These results warrant further research into the floatability of biochars and into designing biochars with specific pH, which could be a factor influencing gaseous emissions from liquids that are sensitive to pH. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents)

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13 pages, 4326 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization Study for the Desorption of Methylene Blue Dye from Clay Based Adsorbent Coating

by Momina, Mohd Rafatullah, Suzylawati Ismail and Anees Ahmad

Water 2019, 11(6), 1304; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11061304 - 24 Jun 2019

Cited by 54 | Viewed by 5576

Abstract

Batch desorption experiments of methylene blue (MB) dye from a clay adsorbent coating were carried out to evaluate the maximum desorption conditions. Combination of thermal and chemical regeneration techniques were used for the desorption process. The desorption of MB was found to be 70% using an HCl solvent after heating adsorbent coating at 160 °C. The optimization study was carried out to identity the optimum desorption conditions using MINITAB 14 software. The individual and interaction effects of three factors, temperature, dye concentration and contact time for desorption of dye were determine by applying response surface methodology (RSM). The optimization results showed that all three factors have main effects whereas the interaction of concentration–time is significant as compared to other interactions. The findings exhibit a maximum desorption efficiency 23 mg/g at 60 °C for 100 mg/L of dye and 150 min of contact time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents)

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14 pages, 3093 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Efficient Removal of Cr(VI) from Water by Biochar and Activated Carbon Prepared through Hydrothermal Carbonization and Pyrolysis: Adsorption-Coupled Reduction Mechanism

by Anh Tuan Vo, Van Phuong Nguyen, Abdelkader Ouakouak, Aileen Nieva, Bonifacio T. Doma, Jr., Hai Nguyen Tran and Huan-Ping Chao

Water 2019, 11(6), 1164; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11061164 - 03 Jun 2019

Cited by 66 | Viewed by 6773

Abstract

Three carbonaceous porous materials (biochar and activated carbon) were developed from the Tectona grandis tree sawdust. The applied process of two-stage preparation included pre-treatment through hydrothermal carbonization at 190 °C and subsequent pyrolysis at 800 °C. Two chemical activating agents (K₂CO₃ and ZnCl₂) were used to prepared activated carbons (K₂CO₃-AC and ZnCl₂-AC), respectively. They were characterized by textural property, morphology, and surface element components and applied to remove Cr(VI) from solution at various solution pH values and initial Cr(VI) concentrations. Results showed that the textural parameters (S_BET and V_Total) of the prepared material were 1757 m²/g and 1.027 cm³/g for Zn-Cl₂-AC, 1013 m²/g and 0.418 cm³/g for K₂CO₃-AC, and 792 m²/g and 0.345 cm³/g for biochar. The adsorption process reached the highest efficiency at pH 3.0. The Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity indicated the decreasing order: ZnCl₂-AC (127 mg/g) > K₂CO₃-AC (103 mg/g) > biochar (83.5 mg/g). The removal mechanism of Cr(V) from solution was regarded as an adsorption-coupled reduction, namely (1) partial reduction of Cr(VI) into Cr(III) during the adsorption process and (2) adsorption of the Cr(VI) anions through electrostatic attraction and pore filling and the reduced Cr(III) cations through complexation, Cπ–cation interaction, cation exchange, and pore filing. Therefore, the prepared biochar and activated carbon can server as promising adsorbents to efficiently remove both Cr(VI) and Cr(III) from water. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents)

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15 pages, 2178 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Process Optimization Study of Zn²⁺ Adsorption on Biochar-Alginate Composite Adsorbent by Response Surface Methodology (RSM)

by Subrata Biswas, Manisha Bal, Sushanta Kumar Behera, Tushar Kanti Sen and Bhim Charan Meikap

Water 2019, 11(2), 325; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11020325 - 14 Feb 2019

Cited by 61 | Viewed by 5123

Abstract

A novel biochar alginate composite adsorbent was synthesized and applied for removal of Zn²⁺ ions from aqueous solution. Kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamic studies showed the suitability of the adsorbent. From a Langmuir isotherm study, the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of the composite adsorbent was found to be 120 mg/g. To investigate the effect of process variables like initial Zn²⁺ concentration (25–100 mg/L), adsorbent dose (0.4–8 g/L) and temperature (298–318 K) on Zn²⁺ adsorption, response surface methodology (RSM) based on a three independent variables central composite design of experiments was employed. A quadratic model equation was developed to predict the relationship between the independent variables and response for maximum Zn²⁺ removal. The optimization study reveals that the initial Zn²⁺ concentration and adsorbent dose were the most effective parameters for removal of Zn²⁺ due to higher magnitude of F-statistic value which effects to a large extent of Zn²⁺ removal. The optimum physicochemical condition for maximum removal of Zn²⁺ was determined from the RSM study. The optimum conditions are 43.18 mg/L initial metal ion concentration, 0.062 g adsorbent dose and a system temperature of 313.5 K. At this particular condition, the removal efficiency of Zn²⁺ was obtained as 85%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents)

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14 pages, 1479 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Greener Method for the Removal of Toxic Metal Ions from the Wastewater by Application of Agricultural Waste as an Adsorbent

by Rabia Baby Shaikh, Bullo Saifullah and Fawad Ur Rehman

Water 2018, 10(10), 1316; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w10101316 - 23 Sep 2018

Cited by 38 | Viewed by 5458

Abstract

The presence of inorganic pollutants such as metal ions (Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cr⁶⁺) in water, probably by long-term geochemical changes and from the effluents of various industries, causes diseases and disorders (e.g., cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, muscular dystrophy, hepatitis, and multiple sclerosis). Conventional methods for their removal are limited by technical and economic barriers. In biosorption, low-cost and efficient biomaterials are used for this purpose. In this study, Brassica Campestris stems from the agriculture waste and has been used for the removal of Ni²⁺, Cr⁶⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions from an aqueous solution containing all the ions. Effect of different parameters, e.g., pH, contact time, metal ion initial concentration, adsorbent dose, agitation rate and temperature were analyzed and optimized. The adsorbent worked well for removal of the Pb²⁺ and Cr⁶⁺ as compared to Ni²⁺. The atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and FTIR investigation of adsorbent before and after shows a clear difference in the adsorbent capability. The highest adsorption percentage was found at 98%, 91%, and 49% respectively, under the optimized parameters. Furthermore, the Langmuir isotherm was found better in fitting to the experimental data than that of the Freundlich isotherm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents)

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15 pages, 2226 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Formation of Palygorskite Clay from Treated Diatomite and its Application for the Removal of Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solution

by Houwaida Nefzi, Manef Abderrabba, Sameh Ayadi and Jalel Labidi

Water 2018, 10(9), 1257; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w10091257 - 15 Sep 2018

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4931

Abstract

Environmental contamination by toxic heavy metals is a serious worldwide phenomenon. Thus, their removal is a crucial issue. In this study, we found an efficient adsorbent to remove Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺ from aqueous solution using two materials. Chemical modification was used to obtain palygorskite clay from diatomite. The adsorbents were characterized using X-ray florescence, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The effects of contact time, initial concentration, temperature and pH on the adsorption process were investigated. Our results showed that the (%) of maximum adsorption capacity of diatomite was 78.44% for Cu²⁺ at pH 4 and 77.3% for Ni²⁺ at pH 7, while the (%) of the maximum adsorption on palygorskite reached 91% for Cu²⁺ and 87.05% for Ni²⁺, in the same condition. The results indicate that the pseudo-second-order model can describe the adsorption process. Furthermore, the adsorption isotherms could be adopted by the Langmuir and the Freundlich models with good correlation coefficient (R²). Thus, our results showed that palygorskite prepared from Tunisian diatomite is a good adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals from water. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Pollution Control Using Clay Minerals and Agricultural Biomass-Based Adsorbents)

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