Adsorption of heavy metals from aqueous solutions by Mg-Al-Zn mingled oxides adsorbent.

In our study, Mg-Al-Zn mingled oxides were prepared by the co-precipitation method. The structure, composition, morphology and thermal stability of the synthesized Mg-Al-Zn mingled oxides were analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, N2 physisorption, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry. Batch experiments were performed to study the adsorption behavior of cobalt(II) and nickel(II) as a function of pH, contact time, initial metal ion concentration, and adsorbent dose. The maximum adsorption capacity of Mg-Al-Zn mingled oxides for cobalt and nickel metal ions was 116.7 mg g-1, and 70.4 mg g-1, respectively. The experimental data were analyzed using pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order kinetic models in linear and nonlinear regression analysis. The kinetic studies showed that the adsorption process could be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Experimental equilibrium data were well represented by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Also, the maximum monolayer capacity, qmax, obtained was 113.8 mg g-1, and 79.4 mg g-1 for Co(II), and Ni(II), respectively. Our results showed that Mg-Al-Zn mingled oxides can be used as an efficient adsorbent material for removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater samples.

Remediation of distilleries wastewater using chitosan immobilized Bentonite and Bentonite based organoclays.

Organic-inorganic nanocomposite, namely chitosan immobilized Bentonite (CIB) with chitosan content of 5% was synthesized in an acetic acid solution (2%). Organically modified CIB and Bentonite (mbent.) were prepared by intercalating cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a cationic surfactant at doses equivalent to 1.5 and 3 times the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of clay. The prepared samples were characterized using FTIR, XRD and SEM to explore the interlayer structure and morphology of the resultant nanocomposites. The remediation of distilleries (vinasse) wastewater process was carried out using different adsorbents including CIB, modified CIB (mCIB), Bentonite (bent.), modified Bentonite (mbent.) and chitosan at different contact time. The results showed that the packing density of surfactant used in the synthesis of organoclays strongly affects the sorption capacity of the clay mineral and also showed that (mCIB)3 was found to be the most effective sorbent in the purification of distilleries wastewater with 83% chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and 78% color removal.