Geopolymer Materials from Fly Ash-A Sustainable Approach to Hazardous Waste Management.

This study explores the utilisation challenges of fly ash from municipal waste incineration, specifically focusing on ash from a dry desulphurisation plant (DDS), which is categorised as hazardous due to its high heavy metal content. The ash's low silicon and calcium contents restrict its standalone utility. Laboratory investigations initially revealed that geopolymers derived solely from fly ash after flue gas treatment (FGT), in combination with coal combustion fly ash, exhibited low compressive strength (below 0.6 MPa). However, the study demonstrated significant improvements by modifying the FGT ash through water leaching. This process enhanced its performance when mixed with high-silica and -aluminium fly ash, resulting in geopolymers achieving compressive strengths of up to 18 MPa. Comparable strength outcomes were observed when the modified ash was blended with commercial cement. Leachability tests conducted for heavy metals (HMs) such as copper, zinc, lead, cadmium, and nickel indicated that their concentrations fell below the regulatory limits for landfill disposal: 2, 4, 0.5, 0.04, and 0.4 mg/kg, respectively. These results underscore the effectiveness of water-washing FGT ash in conjunction with other materials for producing geopolymers, contributing to sustainable waste management practices.

Decarbonatization of Energy Sector by CO2 Sequestration in Waste Incineration Fly Ash and Its Utilization as Raw Material for Alkali Activation.

In this study, municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash was subjected to mineral carbonation with the aim of investigating CO2 sequestration in waste material. The conducted study follows the trend of searching for alternatives to natural mineral materials with the ability to sequestrate CO2. The mineral carbonation of MSWI fly ash allowed for the storage of up to 0.25 mmol CO2 g-1. Next, both carbonated and uncarbonated MSWI fly ashes were activated using an alkaline activation method by means of two different activation agents, namely potassium hydroxide and potassium silicate or sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate. Mineral carbonation caused a drop in the compressive strength of alkali-activated materials, probably due to the formation of sodium and/or potassium carbonates. The maximum compressive strength obtained was 3.93 MPa after 28 days for uncarbonated fly ash activated using 8 mol dm-3 KOH and potassium hydroxide (ratio 3:1). The relative ratio of hydroxide:silicate also influenced the mechanical properties of the materials. Both carbonated and uncarbonated fly ashes, as well as their alkali-activated derivatives, were characterized in detail by means of XRD, XRF, and FTIR. Both uncarbonated and carbonated fly ashes were subjected to TG analysis. The obtained results have proved the importance of further research in terms of high-calcium fly ash (HCFA) utilization.

Sorption of Polar Sorbates NH3, H2O, SO2 and CO2 on Selected Inorganic Materials.

In this paper, the sorption of NH3, H2O, SO2 and CO2 was tested for several selected inorganic materials. The tests were performed on samples belonging to two topologies of materials, faujasite (FAU) and framework-type MFI, the structures of which differ in pore size and connectivity. All sorbates are important in terms of reducing their emissions to the environment. They have different chemical nature: basic, alkaline, and acidic. They are all polar in structure and composition and two of them (ammonia and water vapor) can form hydrogen bonds. These differences result in different interactions with the surface of the adsorbents. This paper presents experimental data and proposes a mathematical description of the sorption process. The best fit of the experimental data was obtained for the Toth and GAB models. The studies showed that among the selected samples, faujasite has the best sorption capacity for ammonia and water vapor, while the best sorbent for sulfur dioxide is the MFI framework type. These materials behave like molecular sieves and can be used for quite selective adsorption of relevant gases. In addition, modification of the faujasite with organic silane resulted in a drastic reduction in the surface area of the sorbent, resulting in significantly lower sorption capacities for gases.

High-Entropy Perovskites as Multifunctional Metal Oxide Semiconductors: Synthesis and Characterization of (Gd0.2Nd0.2La0.2Sm0.2Y0.2)CoO3.

Single-phase multicomponent perovskite-type cobalt oxide containing five cations in equiatomic amounts on the A-site, namely, (Gd0.2Nd0.2La0.2Sm0.2Y0.2)CoO3, has been synthesized via the modified coprecipitation hydrothermal method. Using an original approach for heat treatment, which comprises quenching utilizing liquid nitrogen as a cooling medium, a single-phase ceramic with high configuration entropy, crystallizing in an orthorhombic distorted structure was obtained. It reveals the anomalous temperature dependence of the lattice expansion with two weak transitions at approx. 80 and 240 K that are assigned to gradual crossover from the low- via intermediate- to high-spin state of Co3+. The compound exhibits weak ferromagnetism at T ≤ 10 K and signatures of antiferromagnetic correlations in the paramagnetic phase. Ab initio calculations predict a band gap Δ = 1.18 eV in the ground-state electronic structure with the dominant contribution of O_p and Co_d orbitals in the valence and conduction bands, respectively. Electronic transport measurements confirm the negative temperature coefficient of resistivity characteristic to a semiconducting material and reveal a sudden drop in activation energy at T ∼ 240 K from E a ∼ 1 eV in the low-temperature phase to E a ∼ 0.3 eV at room temperature. The possibility of fine tuning of the semiconducting band gap via a subtle change in A-site stoichiometry is discussed.

CO2 sorption and regeneration properties of fly ash zeolites synthesized with the use of differentiated methods.

Production of fly ash zeolites may be an attractive method for the utilization of solid wastes from the energy sector. Different methods of synthesis often yield a variety of zeolite types, thereby affecting the properties of the resulting materials. The attention paid to carbon dioxide emission reduction technologies fully justifies the study of the sorption behaviours of fly ash zeolites synthesized by different methods. This work investigates the sorption properties of fly ash zeolites synthesized with different methods using CO2. Sorption capacity and adsorption isotherms were determined following the volumetric method and textural parameters were resolved according to the Dubinin-Astakhov (DA) method. The CO2 sorption capacity was in the range 0.24-4.16 mmol/g. The relationships between structure and sorption behaviour were studied for each synthesis method. Some strong similarities between commercial zeolites and fly ash zeolites were found. The mechanism for sorption was proved to be physisorption which is fully reversible under selected conditions. The observed trends were used to identify the best sorbent.

SO 2 sorption properties of fly ash zeolites.

In the presented study, the sulfur dioxide sorption properties of fly ash zeolite X were investigated. Sorption tests were performed on fly ash zeolite samples that were not prepared specially for sorption, in addition to dried samples and samples in the presence of water vapor. The samples saturated with water vapor showed the highest sorption capacity. The sorption capacity of the samples additionally dried prior to the sorption experiment was higher than that of the samples that were not specially prepared for the sorption test. Regeneration tests indicated relatively good regeneration properties. The obtained results were described with the use of Langmuir, Sips, and Dubinin-Astakhov models, with the Dubinin-Astakhov model providing the best fit.

A review of the fate of engineered nanomaterials in municipal solid waste streams.

Significant knowledge and data gaps associated with the fate of product-embedded engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in waste management processes exist that limit our current ability to develop appropriate end-of-life management strategies. This review paper was developed as part of the activities of the IWWG ENMs in Waste Task Group. The specific objectives of this review paper are to assess the current knowledge associated with the fate of ENMs in commonly used waste management processes, including key processes and mechanisms associated with ENM fate and transport in each waste management process, and to use that information to identify the data gaps and research needs in this area. Literature associated with the fate of ENMs in wastes was reviewed and summarized. Overall, results from this literature review indicate a need for continued research in this area. No work has been conducted to quantify ENMs present in discarded materials and an understanding of ENM release from consumer products under conditions representative of those found in relevant waste management process is needed. Results also indicate that significant knowledge gaps associated with ENM behaviour exist for each waste management process investigated. There is a need for additional research investigating the fate of different types of ENMs at larger concentration ranges with different surface chemistries. Understanding how changes in treatment process operation may influence ENM fate is also needed. A series of specific research questions associated with the fate of ENMs during the management of ENM-containing wastes have been identified and used to direct future research in this area.

CO2 adsorption properties of char produced from brown coal impregnated with alcohol amine solutions.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction is critical to mitigating climate change. Power plants for heating and industry are significant sources of CO2 emissions. There is a need for identifying and developing new, efficient methods to reduce CO2 emissions. One of the methods used is flue gas purification by CO2 capture through adsorption. This study aimed to develop CO2 adsorbent out of modified brown coal impregnated with solutions of first-, second-, and third-order amines. Low-temperature nitrogen adsorption isotherms and CO2 isotherms were measured for the prepared samples. The results of experiments unexpectedly revealed that CO2 sorption capacity decreased after impregnation. Due to lack of strait trends in CO2 sorption capacity decrease, the results were closely analyzed to find the reason for the inconsistencies. It was revealed that different amines represent different affinities for CO2 and that the size and structure of impregnating factor has influence on the CO2 sorption capacity of impregnated material. The character of a support was also noticeable as well for impregnation results as for the affinity to CO2. The influence of amine concentration used was investigated along with the comparison on how the theoretical percentage of the impregnation on the support influenced the results. The reaction mechanism of tertiary amine was taken into consideration in connection to no presence of water vapor during the experiments. Key findings were described in the work and provide a strong basis for further studies on CO2 adsorption on amine-impregnated support.