Removal of basic dyes from aqueous solutions with a treated spent bleaching earth.

A spent bleaching earth from an edible oil refinery was treated by impregnation with a normal sodium hydroxide solution followed by mild thermal treatment (100 degrees C). The obtained material (TSBE) was washed, dried, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, FTIR, SEM, BET, and thermal analysis. The clay structure was not apparently affected by the treatment and the impregnated organic matter was quantitatively removed. We have investigated the comparative sorption of safranine and methylene blue on this material, the spent bleaching earth (SBE), and the virgin bleaching earth (VBE). The kinetic results fit the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Weber and Morris intraparticle diffusion model. The pH had no effect on the sorption efficiency. The sorption isotherms followed the Langmuir model for various sorbent concentrations with good values of the determination coefficient. A linear relationship was found between the calculated maximum removal capacity and the solid/solution ratio. A comparison between the results obtained with this material and those of the literature highlighted the low cost and the good removal capacity of treated spent bleaching earth.

Micellar solubilization of tributylphosphate in aqueous solutions of Pluronic block copolymers. Part I. Effect of the copolymer structure and temperature on the phase behavior.

Solubilization of tributylphosphate (TBP), a polar oil, in various micellar solutions of Pluronic has been investigated by turbidimetry emphasizing the effect of temperature and the role of the PPO and PEO blocks on the phase behavior of the three components systems (Pluronic-TBP-water). [Temperature-composition] diagrams allow monophasic and diphasic domains to be delimited. Two temperatures are shown to have a determining effect on the phase behavior (TBP solubilization); the well known cloud point temperature (CPT, here defined for the three components system) and the solubilization minimum temperature (SMT) which is defined as the lowest temperature allowing solubilization of TBP in the system. Both temperature depend on the copolymer structure and, interestingly, are directly related to the TBP concentration in the medium. Monophasic microemulsions are observed when the temperature ranges between the SMT and the CPT. When TCPT the system separates in two phase due to the co-precipitation of TBP and Pluronic. Moreover an unexpected evolution of the CPT with the TBP content clearly indicates the occurrence of a structural change of the microemulsions which allows higher quantities of TBP to be solubilized. But the structural change does not allow alone higher quantities of TBP to be solubilized. A well compromise between the SMT and the CPT must be also observed so as to obtain a large extent of monophasic domain after the restructuration. The best compromise is obtained with Pluronics with intermediate hydrophobic character. Reversely, hydrophobic and hydrophilic Pluronics exhibit a very small extent of monophasic domain after the restructuration which does not allow benefit by the structural change.

Micellar solubilization of tributylphosphate in aqueous solutions of Pluronic block copolymers. Part II. Structural characterization inferred by 1H NMR.

The solubilization of tributylphosphate (TBP), a polar oil, in various micellar solutions of Pluronic has been investigated by (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Partial phase diagrams of the three components systems (Pluronic-TBP-water) have shown two characteristic temperatures, called CPT and SMT, which control the phase behavior (see Part I); Both temperature depend on the copolymer structure and, interestingly, are directly related to the TBP concentration in the medium. Monophasic microemulsions are observed only when the temperature ranges between the SMT and the CPT. Moreover, the evolution of the CPT with the TBP content clearly indicated the occurrence of a structural change of the microemulsions which allows higher quantities of TBP to be solubilized. In this second part, (1)H NMR studies of TPB/micellar systems have essentially focused on elucidating the nature of the interactions between TBP and micelle, or on the location of the solubilized species, mainly from the dependence of chemical shifts or linewidths on TBP concentration. Especially, the NMR spectra of the microemulsions before and after the structural change have been compared with those obtained for pure solution of Pluronic in D(2)O at different temperatures and in CDCl(3). The analysis of the (1)H NMR chemical shifts suggests a structural transformation of the TBP-Pluronic micelles in the sense of an hydrophobic TBP-PPO core becoming more and more dense as the TBP concentration increases. Especially, (1)H NMR data evidence an evolution of the hydration state of the hydrophobic core following addition of TBP in the micellar solutions. During the addition of TBP, the microemulsion structure turns from spherical swelled micelles to nanodroplets of pure TBP stabilized by the Pluronic (pure nanophase of TBP stabilized by the copolymer). It is shown that the structural change strongly depends on the temperatures (CPT and SMT, see Part I) and on the copolymer structure.