Waste of Mytella Falcata shells for removal of a triarylmethane biocide from water: Kinetic, equilibrium, regeneration and thermodynamic studies.

Waste of Mytella falcata shell was used as low-cost adsorbent to remove the biocide Basic Green 4 (BG4) from water. Shells were collected form trash nearby the lagoon were Mytella falcata is fished. After clean, dry and crushed, the powder was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and X-ray dispersive energy spectroscopy (EDS). Both kinetic and equilibrium adsorption tests are carried out. Adsorbent regenerability was tested during adsorption/desorption cycles, using a UV photo-regeneration process. The maximum adsorption capacity reached 539.24 mg.g-1 (60 °C), which was higher than those retrieved for other materials with similar origin. The kinetic results indicated that the process followed pseudo-second order model. Equilibrium data indicate an increase in BG4 adsorption capacity with temperature and Sips model had better fit for all the investigated temperatures (30, 40, 50 and 60 °C). The regeneration/reuse test indicated that the adsorbent is able to assure a BG4 removal above 70 % during five adsorption/desorption cycles evaluated. Thermodynamic parameters suggested that adsorption is spontaneous, endothermal, governed by chemisorption and with structural changes in the solid surface upon adsorption.

Ouricuri (Syagrus coronata) fiber: a novel biosorbent to remove methylene blue from aqueous solutions.

In this work, the potential of ouricuri (Syagrus coronata) fiber as a novel biosorbent to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions was investigated. The fiber was prepared and characterized according to the fundamental features for adsorption. A 23 experimental design was used to evaluate the effects of adsorbent dosage (M), fiber diameter (D) and agitation (A) on the adsorption capacity. In the more adequate conditions, kinetic and equilibrium studies were performed. The experimental design results showed that M = 10 g L-1), D = 0.595 mm and A = 200 rpm were the more adequate conditions for MB adsorption. Based on the kinetic study, it was found that the adsorption process was fast, being the equilibrium was attained at about 5 min, with 90% of color removal. The isotherm was properly represented by the Sips model, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 31.7 mg g-1. In brief, it was demonstrated that ouricuri fiber is an alternative biosorbent to remove MB from aqueous media, taking into account the process efficiency and economic viewpoint.