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Advanced Materials and Technologies in Separation

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Composites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 June 2023) | Viewed by 9888

Special Issue Editor

School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: froth flotation; adsorption; secondary resources; nanomaterials; precious metal

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Separation technologies are widely used in various industrial fields and scientific research, including climate change, environmental pollution, rare element extraction, pharmaceutical production and waste recycling. Therefore, enforcing new approaches to the synthesis of advanced materials and progress in separation technologies will lead to a better world through the pursuit of purity and order. This special issue aims to provide a forum for the discussion of recent advances in separation technologies, such as froth flotation, ion exchange, solvent extraction and membrane filtration, as well as the latest development of advanced adsorption materials, including carbon-based materials, silica-based materials, biomaterials, metal-organic frameworks, and covalent-organic frameworks.

Researchers are cordially invited to submit relevant manuscripts concerning the development of advanced technologies and materials for a Special Issue entitled “Advanced Materials and Technologies in Separation and Adsorption” within the journal Materials.

Dr. Ziyong Chang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • separation
  • adsorption
  • ion exchange
  • membrane filtration
  • advanced materials
  • nanomaterials
  • porous materials

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 10693 KiB  
Article
Characteristics of Adsorption/Desorption Process on Dolomite Adsorbent in the Copper(II) Removal from Aqueous Solutions
by Eleonora Sočo, Andżelika Domoń, Dorota Papciak, Magdalena M. Michel, Dariusz Pająk, Bogumił Cieniek and Mostafa Azizi
Materials 2023, 16(13), 4648; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16134648 - 27 Jun 2023
Viewed by 874
Abstract
The removal of hazardous heavy metals that have been released into the environment due to industrial activities has become an important issue in recent years. The presented study concerned the removal of copper(II) ions from aqueous solutions using dolomites. Dolomite is a very [...] Read more.
The removal of hazardous heavy metals that have been released into the environment due to industrial activities has become an important issue in recent years. The presented study concerned the removal of copper(II) ions from aqueous solutions using dolomites. Dolomite is a very attractive adsorbent due to its wide availability, low cost, good adsorption, and environmental compatibility. The paper describes the properties of D-I and D-II dolomites from two different open-cast mines in Poland. The properties of natural adsorbents were determined based on point of zero charges (PZC), elemental analysis of the adsorbent composition, FT-IR, XRD, and SEM spectra analysis. Depending on the initial concentration of the solution used, the adsorption efficiency of copper(II) ions was 58–80% for D-I and 80–97% for D-II. The adsorption mechanism in the case of D-II dolomite was mainly based on ion exchange, while chemisorption dominated the D-I dolomite surface. Considering the possibility of the regeneration and reuse of the adsorbent, dolomite D-II is a better material (the desorption efficiency of copper(II) ions was 58–80%). The adsorption behavior of dolomites has been described using six adsorption isotherms. The best fit was obtained for the Redlich–Peterson, Jovanović, and Langmuir isotherms, indicating that monolayer adsorption occurred. The maximum adsorption capacity for copper(II) was 378 mg/g of D-I and 308 mg/g of D-II. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies in Separation)
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27 pages, 4618 KiB  
Article
Removal of Phosphorus with the Use of Marl and Travertine and Their Thermally Modified Forms—Factors Affecting the Sorption Capacity of Materials and the Kinetics of the Sorption Process
by Sylwia Gubernat, Adam Masłoń, Joanna Czarnota, Piotr Koszelnik, Marcin Chutkowski, Mirosław Tupaj, Justyna Gumieniak, Agnieszka Kramek and Tomasz Galek
Materials 2023, 16(3), 1225; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16031225 - 31 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1393
Abstract
The paper presents new reactive materials, namely marl and travertine, and their thermal modifications and the Polonite® material, analyzing their phosphorus removal from water and wastewater by sorption. Based on the experimental data, an analysis of the factors influencing the sorption capacity [...] Read more.
The paper presents new reactive materials, namely marl and travertine, and their thermal modifications and the Polonite® material, analyzing their phosphorus removal from water and wastewater by sorption. Based on the experimental data, an analysis of the factors influencing the sorption capacity of the materials, such as the material dose, pH of the initial solution, process temperature, surface structure, and morphology, was performed. Adsorption isotherms and maximum sorption capacities were determined with the use of the Langmuir, Freundlich, Langmuir–Freundlich, Tóth, Radke–Praunitz, and Marczewski–Jaroniec models. The kinetics of the phosphorus sorption process of the tested materials were described using reversible and irreversible pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and mixed models. The natural materials were the most sensitive to changes in the process conditions, such as temperature and pH. The thermal treatment process stabilizes the marl and travertine towards materials with a more homogeneous surface in terms of energy and structure. The fitted models of the adsorption isotherms and kinetic models allowed for an indication of a possible phosphorus-binding mechanism, as well as the maximum amount of this element that can be retained on the materials’ surface under given conditions—raw marl (43.89 mg P/g), raw travertine (140.48 mg P/g), heated marl (80.44 mg P/g), heated travertine (282.34 mg P/g), and Polonite® (54.33 mg P/g). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies in Separation)
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17 pages, 35814 KiB  
Article
Magnetic Zr-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks: A Highly Efficient Au (III) Trapper for Gold Recycling
by Ziyong Chang, Xiaosha Gong, Liang Zeng, Junlian Wang and Yangge Zhu
Materials 2022, 15(19), 6531; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15196531 - 21 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1331
Abstract
In this work, the magnetic Zr-based MOF composites with excellent retrievability were prepared using Fe3O4@SiO2 as the core and UiO–66–NH2 as the shell. Fe3O4@SiO2 core could introduce mesopores and result in capillary [...] Read more.
In this work, the magnetic Zr-based MOF composites with excellent retrievability were prepared using Fe3O4@SiO2 as the core and UiO–66–NH2 as the shell. Fe3O4@SiO2 core could introduce mesopores and result in capillary condensation in MOF composites, which aggravated with the dosage of Fe3O4@SiO2. The as-synthesized MOF composites could be rapidly retrieved from aqueous solution via magnetic separation in 10 seconds. pH imposed an important effect on Au (III) adsorption by governing the ion exchange and electrostatic interaction between Au (III) anions and adsorbents, and the optimal adsorption happened at pH 7. The adsorption process fitted well with the pseudo-second order kinetics model and Langmuir adsorption model. The maximum adsorption capacity of Au (III) by FSUN–10 and FSUN–50 at 298 K were determined to be 611.18 mg∙g−1 and 463.85 mg∙g−1, respectively. Additionally, Au (III) uptakes increased with temperature. Beyond experiments, the adsorption mechanisms were thoroughly studied through systematic characterization, molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) and density functional theory (DFT) study. It was verified that Au (III) was adsorbed via coordination to hydroxyl and amino groups and was reduced to Au (I) and Au (0) by amino groups. The diffusion coefficient of Au (III) along UiO–66–NH2 was calculated to be 5.8 × 10−5 cm2∙s−1. Moreover, the magnetic Zr-based MOF composites exhibit great industrial value in gold recycling with high adsorption selectivity and good recyclability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies in Separation)
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25 pages, 5433 KiB  
Article
Effect of Bimetallic-Activated Carbon Impregnation on Adsorption–Desorption Performance for Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) Capture
by Nurul Noramelya Zulkefli, Loshinni S. Mathuray Veeran, Adam Mohd Izhan Noor Azam, Mohd Shahbudin Masdar and Wan Nor Roslam Wan Isahak
Materials 2022, 15(15), 5409; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15155409 - 05 Aug 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1546
Abstract
This study reports on the impregnation of bi-metallic adsorbents based on commercial coconut activated carbon (CAC), surface-modified with metal acetate (ZnAc2), metal oxide (ZnO and TiO2), and the basic compound potassium hydroxide (KOH). The morphology of the adsorbents was [...] Read more.
This study reports on the impregnation of bi-metallic adsorbents based on commercial coconut activated carbon (CAC), surface-modified with metal acetate (ZnAc2), metal oxide (ZnO and TiO2), and the basic compound potassium hydroxide (KOH). The morphology of the adsorbents was then characterized with SEM-EDX, the microporosity was determined using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, the thermal stability was investigated via thermogravity analysis (TGA), and functional group analysis was undertaken with Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. These modified adsorbents were subjected to a real adsorption test for H2S capture using a 1 L adsorber with 5000 ppm H2S balanced for N2, with temperature and pressure maintained at an ambient condition. Adsorption–desorption was carried out in three cycles with the blower temperature varied from 50 °C to 150 °C as the desorption condition. Characterization results revealed that the impregnated solution homogeneously covered the adsorbent surface, effecting the morphology and properties. Based on this study, it was found that ZnAc2/TiO2/CAC_DCM showed a significant increase in adsorption capacity with the different temperatures applied for the desorption in the second cycle: 1.67 mg H2S/g at 50 °C, 1.84 mg H2S/g at 100 °C, and 1.96 mg H2S/g at 150 °C. ZnAc2/ZnO/CAC_DCM seemed to produce the lowest percentage of degradation in the three cycles for all the temperatures used in the adsorption–desorption process. Therefore, ZnAc2/ZnO/CAC_DCM has the potential to be used and commercialized for biogas purification for H2S removal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies in Separation)
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13 pages, 3138 KiB  
Article
Study on Pyrolysis–Mechanics–Seepage Behavior of Oil Shale in a Closed System Subject to Real-Time Temperature Variations
by Lei Wang, Jianzheng Su and Dong Yang
Materials 2022, 15(15), 5368; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15155368 - 04 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1168
Abstract
In situ mining is a practical and feasible technology for extracting oil shale. However, the extracted oil shale is subject to formation stress. This study systematically investigates the pyrolysis–mechanics–seepage problems of oil shale exploitation, which are subject to thermomechanical coupling using a thermal [...] Read more.
In situ mining is a practical and feasible technology for extracting oil shale. However, the extracted oil shale is subject to formation stress. This study systematically investigates the pyrolysis–mechanics–seepage problems of oil shale exploitation, which are subject to thermomechanical coupling using a thermal simulation experimental device representing a closed system, high-temperature rock mechanics testing system, and high-temperature triaxial permeability testing device. The results reveal the following. (i) The yield of gaseous hydrocarbon in the closed system increases throughout the pyrolysis reaction. Due to secondary cracking, the production of light and heavy hydrocarbon components first increases, and then decreases during the pyrolysis reaction. The parallel first-order reaction kinetic model shows a good fit with the pyrolysis and hydrocarbon generation processes of oil shale. With increasing temperature, the hydrocarbon generation conversion rate gradually increases, and the uniaxial compressive strength of oil shale was found to initially decrease and then increase. The compressive strength was the lowest at 400 °C, and the conversion rate of hydrocarbon formation gradually increased. The transformation of kaolinite into metakaolinite at high temperatures is the primary reason for the increase in compressive strength of oil shale at 400–600 °C. (ii) When the temperature is between 20 and 400 °C, the magnitude of oil shale permeability under stress is small (~10−2 md). When the temperature exceeds 400 °C, the permeability of the oil shale is large, and it decreases approximately linearly with increasing pore pressure, which is attributed to the joint action of the gas slippage effect, adsorption effect, and effective stress. The results of this research provide a basis for high efficiency in situ exploitation of oil shale. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies in Separation)
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17 pages, 7707 KiB  
Article
A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Progress and Trends on Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer
by Quanzhi Tian, Yinhai Pan, Yingchu Bai, Shuo Yao and Shiqiang Sun
Materials 2022, 15(14), 4777; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15144777 - 07 Jul 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1557
Abstract
The objective of this work is to present the research progress and applications of fly ash-based geopolymer, and summarize the future research hotpots. Since 1998, scholars have made important contributions to the study of fly ash-based geopolymer, and a large number of research [...] Read more.
The objective of this work is to present the research progress and applications of fly ash-based geopolymer, and summarize the future research hotpots. Since 1998, scholars have made important contributions to the study of fly ash-based geopolymer, and a large number of research studies have been published. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis for the determination of the research status, trend, and history of fly ash-based geopolymer was conducted in the present study. A total of 4352 publications on fly ash-based geopolymer were collected between 1998 and 2022, with an increasing trend year by year. China and Australia are the largest contributors to the field, and the research institutions in each country cooperate closely. In addition, the most contributing research areas are MATERIALS SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, and CONSTRUCTION & BUILDING TECHNOLOGY. The keywords including fly ash, compressive strength, and mechanical property are the most frequently appearing words. On the whole, the development of fly ash-based geopolymer could be divided into three stages including the replacement of ordinary Portland cement, the development of multifunctional materials, and the reduction of environmental impact by the conversion of solid waste. This overview could provide an important guidance for the development of fly ash-based geopolymer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies in Separation)
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14 pages, 15427 KiB  
Article
Study of the Effect of Manganese Ion Addition Points on the Separation of Scheelite and Calcite by Sodium Silicate
by Zhenhao Guan, Kuanwei Lu, Ying Zhang, Hu Yang and Xiaokang Li
Materials 2022, 15(13), 4699; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15134699 - 05 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1305
Abstract
The flotation separation (FS) of both scheelite and calcite minerals with similar physicochemical properties remains challenging, since the Ca active sites exist on their surfaces. The present work investigated the effects of different addition points of MnCl2 on the FS of scheelite [...] Read more.
The flotation separation (FS) of both scheelite and calcite minerals with similar physicochemical properties remains challenging, since the Ca active sites exist on their surfaces. The present work investigated the effects of different addition points of MnCl2 on the FS of scheelite and calcite by micro-flotation tests, zeta potential measurements, UV-Vis spectrophotometer measurements, infrared spectrum analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) tests, and the mechanism of separation is elucidated. Interestingly, the recovery of scheelite was 91.33% and that of calcite was 8.49% when MnCl2 was added after sodium silicate. Compared with the addition of MnCl2 before Na2SiO3, the recovery of scheelite was 64.94% and that of calcite was 6.64%. The sequence of adding MnCl2 followed by Na2SiO3 leads to the non-selective adsorption of Mn2+ on the surface of scheelite and calcite firstly, and later, sodium silicate will interact with it to produce hydrophilic silicate. This substantially enhances the hydrophilicity on the surface of both minerals, making separation impossible. In contrast, the addition of MnCl2 after sodium silicate can promote the formation of a metal silicate and enhance the selectivity and inhibition effect on calcite. Meanwhile, under this dosing sequence, the adsorption of Mn2+ on the scheelite surface offered more active sites for sodium oleate, which improved the scheelite surface hydrophobicity. This leads to a great improvement of the FS effect of scheelite and calcite. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies in Separation)
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