Preparation of carbonaceous materials from pyrolysis of chicken bones and its application for fuchsine adsorption.

Activated carbon and biochar were obtained from chicken bone (CB), characterized, and applied to remove basic fuchsine from aqueous media. The adsorbent dosage and pH effects were studied, as well as kinetic, equilibrium, and thermodynamic curves were constructed. The values of BET surface area and total pore volume were 108.94 m2 g-1 and 0.219 cm3 g-1 for the activated carbon and, 18.72 m2 g-1 and 0.075 cm3 g-1 for the biochar. The dye removal percentages were 93.63 and 55.38% when 2.5 g L-1 of activated carbon and biochar were used, respectively. The adsorption was favored using 0.5 g L-1 of adsorbent and pH of 7.0. Adsorption kinetics was well represented by the pseudo-second-order model. Langmuir model was the best to represent the equilibrium. Maximum adsorption capacity was 260.8 mg g-1, obtained using activated carbon. The process was endothermic, favorable, and spontaneous. Results showed that alternative carbonaceous materials can be obtained from chicken bones and used as adsorbents to treat colored effluents containing fuchsine.

Preparation of chitin nanowhiskers and its application for crystal violet dye removal from wastewaters.

Chitin (Ch) and chitin nanowhiskers (ChNW) were prepared, characterized, and applied as adsorbent to remove crystal violet (CV) dye from aqueous solutions. Ch was obtained from shrimp wastes and submitted to acid hydrolysis in order to find ChNW. The increase in average pore size and the rod-like shape of ChNW were probably the main characteristics which contributed to the increase in adsorption potential, when compared with raw Ch. The adsorbent dosage considered more adequate was 5 g L-1, and the most suitable pH was 8.0. A pseudo-second-order model was adequate to represent the kinetic profile. Sips and Hill models were suitable to fit the equilibrium curves. The maximum adsorption capacity of CV on ChNW was 59.52 mg g-1, and the process was endothermic, favorable, and spontaneous. These findings indicated that ChNW have potential to be used as adsorbent in the treatment of colored wastewaters.