Facile Synthesis of Graphene from Waste Tire/Silica Hybrid Additives and Optimization Study for the Fabrication of Thermally Enhanced Cement Grouts.

This work evaluates the effects of newly designed graphene/silica hybrid additives on the properties of cementitious grout. In the hybrid structure, graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) obtained from waste tire was used to improve the thermal conductivity and reduce the cost and environmental impacts by using recyclable sources. Additionally, functionalized silica nanoparticles were utilized to enhance the dispersion and solubility of carbon material and thus the hydrolyzable groups of silane coupling agent were attached to the silica surface. Then, the hybridization of GNP and functionalized silica was conducted to make proper bridges and develop hybrid structures by tailoring carbon/silica ratios. Afterwards, special grout formulations were studied by incorporating these hybrid additives at different loadings. As the amount of hybrid additive incorporated into grout suspension increased from 3 to 5 wt%, water uptake increased from 660 to 725 g resulting in the reduction of thermal conductivity by 20.6%. On the other hand, as the concentration of GNP in hybrid structure increased, water demand was reduced, and thus the enhancement in thermal conductivity was improved by approximately 29% at the same loading ratios of hybrids in the prepared grout mixes. Therefore, these developed hybrid additives showed noticeable potential as a thermal enhancement material in cement-based grouts.

The adsorption and Fenton behavior of iron rich Terra Rosa soil for removal of aqueous anthraquinone dye solutions: kinetic and thermodynamic studies.

Adsorption and advanced oxidation processes are being extensively used for treatment of wastewater containing dye chemicals. In this study, the adsorption and Fenton behavior of iron rich Terra Rosa soil was investigated for the treatment of aqueous anthraquinone dye (Reactive Blue 19 (RB19)) solutions. The impact of pH, initial dye concentration, soil loading rate, contact time and temperature was systematically investigated for adsorption process. A maximum removal efficiency of dye (86.6%) was obtained at pH 2, soil loading of 10 g/L, initial dye concentration of 25 mg/L, and contact time of 120 min. Pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and Weber-Morris kinetic models were applied to describe the adsorption mechanism and sorption kinetic followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Moreover, Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models were used to investigate the isothermal mechanism and equilibrium data were well represented by the Langmuir equation. The maximum adsorption capacity of soil was found as 4.11 mg/g using Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The effect of soil loading and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) dosage was solely tested for Fenton oxidation process. The highest removal efficiency of dye (89.4%) was obtained at pH 2, H2O2 dosage of 10 mM, soil loading of 5 g/L, initial dye concentration of 50 mg/L, and contact time of 60 min. Thermodynamic studies showed that when the adsorption dosage of dye was 25 mg/L at 293-313 K, adsorption enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS) were negative and adsorption free energy (ΔG) was positive. This result indicated that the adsorption was exothermic. Morphological characteristics of the soil were evaluated by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy before and after the adsorption and oxidation process.