Dye removal by activated carbon produced from Agave americana fibers: stochastic isotherm and fractal kinetic studies.

The present work investigates the use of Agave americana fibers (AGF) as a precursor for activated carbon (AC) preparation via chemical activation using phosphoric acid (H3PO4), and the study of the influence of the preparation conditions on the adsorption capacity of the prepared AC toward Alpacide Yellow (AY). The preparation experiments have been conducted at different impregnation ratios: acid/AGF (20 g/1 g, 30 g/1 g, and 40 g/1 g) with varied impregnation times (2 h, 4 h, and 6 h) and at different carbonization temperatures (200 °C, 400 °C, and 600 °C). The impregnation ratio of 40 g/1 g, the impregnation time of 6 h, and the carbonization temperature of 400 °C were selected as the optimal conditions for the preparation of AC with enhanced properties. Despite its low specific surface area (25 m2/g), the prepared AC showed a higher adsorption capacity toward AY (5.71 mg/g) as compared with that of the commercial activated carbon (CC) (5.27 mg/g) which showed a higher specific surface area (825 m2/g). This could be due to the existence of pores and functional groups on the surface of AC, as evidenced by the analysis results of FTIR, DSC, and SEM. The adsorption process was found fast and fractal since it followed the kinetic model of the Brouers-Sotolongo fractal (BSf) (R2 = 0.999), while the mathematical modeling of the adsorption isotherm of AY on the synthesized AC was stochastic since it followed the General Brouers-Sotolongo (GBS) (R2 = 0.999).

Removal of phenol from aqueous solution by coupling alternating current with biosorption.

The present research was devoted to water decontamination through the valorization of cellulosic fibers for the preparation of performing biosorbent, with high pollutant-uptake capacity and low cost. Luffa cylindrica (L.C) and zinc oxide were chosen for the synthesis of hybrid materials by precipitation with and without alternating current (AC). AC was used as a new alternative able to accelerate the reaction kinetics and to enhance the biosorption speed. The potential to remove phenol, from aqueous solution by coupling biosorption and AC, was highlighted. Pure L.C and hybrid materials (L.C + 4% Zn2+) synthesized with and without AC were chosen for the biosorption tests. The effects of pH, initial concentration, frequency, and contact time were studied. The efficiency of the coupling process was evaluated according to the quality of the treated water before and after purification. Results have shown that the percentages of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), germination indexes, and phenol removals have increased when adopting the coupling process. The maximal uptakes of phenol reached 15.4, 28.07, and 28.9 mg g-1 for a concentration of 30 mg L-1 of phenol, respectively, for raw L.C, L.C + 4% Zn2+ + AC, and L.C + 4% Zn2+ at pH = 2. Quantitative and qualitative characterizations confirmed the efficiency of the synthesized hybrid materials compared with pure L.C. The fractal model of Brouers Sotolongo was chosen for the description of the random distribution of the active sites. The kinetic and isotherm data showed a good correlation with the experimental results.

Coupling anodic oxidation, biosorption and alternating current as alternative for wastewater purification.

Anodic oxidation process is considered as an effective solution for the treatment of refractory effluents. Its performance is strongly depending on the stability of the anodes used during the process. For this reason, we aim to enhance the stability of the SS/PbO2 anodes electrodeposited by pulsed current while studying their performance for the anodic oxidation of methylene blue and industrial textile wastewater. The basic idea deals with the possibility to replace the expensive alternatives used for reinforcing the steadiness of the anodes during the anodic oxidation by a simple method based on coupling electrochemical oxidation with biosorption by vegetable material (Luffa cylindrica). The performance of the coupling process was optimized based on its performance in colored and industrial wastewater depollution. Results confirmed the efficiency of the coupling process where 98.7 and 80.02% of methylene blue were removed, respectively, after 60 and 120 min for alternating and direct current. Otherwise, 62.84 and 46.87% of methylene blue were removed by anodic oxidation, respectively, after 120 and 180 min for alternating and direct current. The % COD obtained for the anodic oxidation and the coupling process reached 57.45, 33.61, 91.32 and 75.48% respectively for alternating and direct current. The use of alternating current for both processes has enhanced the speed and the efficiency. Atomic absorption analysis has confirmed that the rates obtained of Pb2+ complied with those allowed by the Standards. LC/MS analysis allowed the identification of by-products generated and the germination tests proved the reuse of the treated water.

Use of alternating current for colored water purification by anodic oxidation with SS/PbO2 and Pb/PbO2 electrodes.

This paper suggests a new alternative for the acceleration of dye removal by adopting alternating current instead of direct current in the treatment of methylene blue solutions and industrials effluents, using anodic oxidation on Pb/PbO2 and stainless steel (SS)/PbO2 anodes. A comparative study of the influence of electrolyte support (NaCl, NaNO3, and Na2SO4) on the anodic oxidation performance and the anode stability was performed. The best results were obtained in presence of NaCl where the color removal percentage reached about 80.13% and 55.8%, for Pb/PbO2 anodes, and 89.5% and 60.4% for the SS/PbO2 anodes for alternating and direct current, respectively. Treatment in alternating current conditions enhanced the removal speed. Atomic absorption analysis confirmed the decrease of the release of (Pb2+) ions to much lower values compared with direct current and to those allowed by the Standards. LC/MS and phytotoxicity analyses confirmed the non-toxicity of the generated by-products during the anodic oxidation of methylene blue and the possibility of the reuse of the treated water.

The combination of Luffa cylindrical fibers and metal oxides offers a highly performing hybrid fiber material in water decontamination.

The present investigation aims to prepare a hybrid material from Luffa cylindrica and metal oxides (ZnO, Al2O3) by precipitation for different percentages of zinc and aluminum (1, 2, and 4%) with a determined amount of biomass (a diameter of 250 µm). Physicochemical characterization of "Luffa cylindrica" and "Luffa cylindrica-metal oxides" was carried out by Boehm titration, pHPZC determination, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and FTIR spectroscopic analysis. The process was optimized according to the adsorbed amount of methylene blue: MB (cationic dye) and methyl orange: MO (anionic dye) onto Luffa cylindrica and hybrid materials prepared. The results demonstrated the efficiency of the designed hybrid materials in removing MB and MO, accelerating the biosorption process and improving the performance of Luffa cylindrica fibers. The highest quantities adsorbed of dyes were obtained by the hybrid material prepared using 4% ZnO. Finally, the Brouers-Sotolongo mathematical modeling of kinetics was used in order to describe the pollutants retention process.

Adsorption of phosphorus by alkaline Tunisian soil in a fixed bed column.

The present study evaluates the phosphorus (P) adsorption by alkaline soil in fixed bed column mode operation. The effects of flow rate, bed height, and initial P concentration on breakthrough curves were evaluated. Data confirmed that both the breakthrough and exhaustion time increased in parallel with the rise in bed height and the decline in flow rate and initial P concentration. The adsorption capacity was observed to increase with decreasing flow rate and bed height and increasing initial concentration. Moreover, continuous adsorption experiments were conducted using three salts (NaCl, KCl and CaCl2) with the same concentration (0.01 M) to investigate the P adsorption behavior in saline conditions. The results showed that all three salts improve the P adsorption in the soil column. Consequently, the bed performance was significantly enhanced with salts addition. The maximum adsorption capacity of 13.47 mg g-1 for P, 16.13 mg g-1 for P-NaCl, 22.10 mg g-1 for P-KCl, 30.05 mg g-1 for P-CaCl2 was attained at an initial influent concentration of 300 mg g-1, bed height of 22 cm, and flow rate of 10 mL min-1. TheCaCl2 addition was therefore the most effective in increasing P adsorption. Thomas, Yoon-Nelson and Clark models were applied to experimental results to forecast the breakthrough curves by nonlinear regression analysis. Meanwhile, the bed depth service time model was employed to examine the effective model parameters in scaling up the process using linear regression analysis. The values of correlation coefficient (R2) and the sum of squared error evidenced that the Thomas model is the most appropriate model to fit the experimental data. The reusability experiment showed that the adsorbent material still had high P adsorption capacity, and tolerable desorption efficiency.

Influence of alternating current on the adsorption of indigo carmine.

The main purpose of this work is to study the effect of a new process of accelerating which consist to couple the electrochemical process with the adsorption to remove an anionic dye, the indigo carmine. That is why, we investigated the effects of the new process of accelerating the adsorption process by using alternating current (AC) on the retention of an anionic dye, the indigo carmine. The adsorption capacity of dye (mg/g) was raised with the raise of current voltage in solution, temperature, and initial indigo carmine concentration and decreased with the increase of initial solution pH, current density, and mass of carbon. The results demonstrate that the removal efficiency of 97.0 % with the current voltage of 15 V is achieved at a current density of 0.014 A/cm2, of pH 2 using zinc as electrodes and contact time of 210 min for adsorption in the presence of AC. Concerning the adsorption without AC, the results obtained showed that for an initial concentration equal to 20 mg/L, more than 95 % amount of adsorbed dye was retained after 405 min of contact in batch system. The comparison between adsorption in the presence and absence of an alternating current shows the importance of the alternating current in the acceleration of the adsorption method and improve the performances of FILTRASORB 200. For both cases, the adsorption mechanism follows the fractal kinetics BSf(n,α) model and the Brouers-Sotolongo isotherm model provides a good fit of the experimental data for both adsorption with and without alternating current.

Biosorption of alpacide blue from aqueous solution by lignocellulosic biomass: Luffa cylindrica fibers.

The aim of the present work is to develop an effective and inexpensive pollutant-removal technology using lignocellulosic fibers: Luffa cylindrica, for the biosorption of an anionic dye: alpacide blue. The influence of some experimental parameters such as pH, temperature, initial concentration of the polluted solution, and mass of the sorbent L. cylindrica on the biosorption of alpacide blue by L. cylindrica fibers has been investigated. Optimal parameters for maximum quantity of biosorption dye were achieved after 2 h of treatment in a batch system using an initial dye concentration of 20 mg/L, a mass of 1 g of L. cylindrica fibers, and pH 2. In these conditions, the quantity of dye retained is 2 mg/g and the retention rate is 78 %. Finally, a mathematical modeling of kinetics and isotherms has been used for mathematical modeling; the model of pseudo-second order is more appropriate to describe this phenomenon of biosorption. Concerning biosorption isotherms, the Freundlich model is the most appropriate for a biosorption of alpacide blue dye by L. cylindrica fibers.