Nano-Adsorbents for the Removal of Heavy Metals and Dyes

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Nanoscience and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 6001

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Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidade da Coruña, 15071 Campus da Zapateira, Spain
Interests: ionic interactions; acid-base properties; adsorption; green technologies; nanoparticles
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Dear Colleagues,

Various remediation techniques are available to prevent pollution episodes originating from effluents. Among these techniques, adsorption has attracted scientists’ attention, particularly in the recent decades, with intense work being conducted in the production of cost-effective adsorbents. Sorption processes consist of the sequestration of one or more species of interest on the surface of a solid, known as a sorbent. Being a surface phenomenon, it is clear that nanosorbents can constitute the next step in the research of sorption. Nanoparticles, for which surface interactions are enhanced, owing to the large surface/volume ratio of these systems, can be considered the definitive evolution in the development of sorbents. However, the practical manipulation of nanosorbents, subsequent separation after sorption, and the possibility of the regeneration of nanosorbents are still limitations that need to be fully explored. In this Special Issue, the state of the art in nanosorbents for metal and/or dye pollution remediation will be analyzed.

Dr. José Luis Barriada Pereira
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Sorbents
  • Pollution
  • Surface phenomena
  • Metals
  • Dyes
  • Regeneration

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3679 KiB  
Article
Terbium Removal from Aqueous Solutions Using a In2O3 Nanoadsorbent and Arthrospira platensis Biomass
by Amal H. Al-Bagawi, Nikita Yushin, Nasser Mohammed Hosny, Islam Gomaa, Sabah Ali, Warren Christopher Boyd, Haitham Kalil and Inga Zinicovscaia
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(19), 2698; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13192698 - 03 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1284
Abstract
Terbium is a rare-earth element with critical importance for industry. Two adsorbents of different origin, In2O3 nanoparticles and the biological sorbent Arthrospira platensis, were applied for terbium removal from aqueous solutions. Several analytical techniques, including X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared [...] Read more.
Terbium is a rare-earth element with critical importance for industry. Two adsorbents of different origin, In2O3 nanoparticles and the biological sorbent Arthrospira platensis, were applied for terbium removal from aqueous solutions. Several analytical techniques, including X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy, were employed to characterize the adsorbents. The effect of time, pH, and terbium concentration on the adsorption efficiency was evaluated. For both adsorbents, adsorption efficiency was shown to be dependent on the time of interaction and the pH of the solution. Maximum removal of terbium by Arthrospira platensis was attained at pH 3.0 and by In2O3 at pH 4.0–7.0, both after 3 min of interaction. Several equilibrium (Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin) and kinetics (pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and Elovich) models were applied to describe the adsorption. The maximum adsorption capacity was calculated from the Langmuir model as 212 mg/g for Arthrospira platensis and 94.7 mg/g for the In2O3 nanoadsorbent. The studied adsorbents can be regarded as potential candidates for terbium recovery from wastewater. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano-Adsorbents for the Removal of Heavy Metals and Dyes)
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11 pages, 3488 KiB  
Article
Jute Fibers Synergy with nZVI/GO: Superficial Properties Enhancement for Arsenic Removal in Water with Possible Application in Dynamic Flow Filtration Systems
by Alejandra Moreno-Bárcenas, Jesús Alejandro Arizpe-Zapata, Julio Alejandro Rivera Haro, Pamela Sepúlveda and Alejandra Garcia-Garcia
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(22), 3974; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12223974 - 11 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1281
Abstract
Groundwater is one of the primary sources of water for both drinking and industrial use in northeastern Mexican territory, around 46% of the total, due to the lack of precipitation during the year and solar radiation index. The presence of arsenic in brackish [...] Read more.
Groundwater is one of the primary sources of water for both drinking and industrial use in northeastern Mexican territory, around 46% of the total, due to the lack of precipitation during the year and solar radiation index. The presence of arsenic in brackish soil and groundwater is a severe health issue, specifically in semi-arid and arid regions in the north of Mexico. Additionally, it represents the only source of drinking water in communities far from big cities, mainly due to the absence of hydric infrastructure. This work presents a new approach to treating polluted water with arsenic. The system based on activating jute fiber with nanoparticles of zero-valent iron immobilized over graphene oxide will allow nZVI particles to preserve their unique qualities for water sanitization. A dynamic flow test was designed to determine the effectivity of activated jute fibers as a water sanitation system. The results showed a reduction in the total arsenic content from 350 ppb to 34 ppb with a filtrate flow of 20 mL/min. The above represents 90% adsorption by the activated fiber. The analyzed sample corresponds to contaminated groundwater taken from Coahuila, Mexico. This sanitation system could be applied to low-income populations lacking robust infrastructure, such arsenic treatment plants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano-Adsorbents for the Removal of Heavy Metals and Dyes)
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20 pages, 4981 KiB  
Article
Towards the Development of Sustainable Hybrid Materials to Achieve High Cr(VI) Removals in a One-Pot Process
by David Gómez-Carnota, José L. Barriada and Roberto Herrero
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(22), 3952; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12223952 - 09 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1010
Abstract
Rising manufacturing costs resulting from the current global situation make it necessary to economize at all stages of production, including waste management. Cost-effective materials that reduce the release of pollutants into the environment are becoming mandatory. In this work, a sodium silicate polymeric [...] Read more.
Rising manufacturing costs resulting from the current global situation make it necessary to economize at all stages of production, including waste management. Cost-effective materials that reduce the release of pollutants into the environment are becoming mandatory. In this work, a sodium silicate polymeric material, functionalized with iron, was synthesized. The material contains iron-rich nanostructures on the surface, which are responsible for the decontamination process. The inorganic material was further treated with a reducing eucalyptus extract to improve its decontamination performance. Both the inorganic and hybrid materials were used for decontamination of Cr(VI), a widely emitted chemical waste product. The hybrid material provided the best results (1.7 g Cr(VI)·g−1 Fe) in a one-pot process combining reduction and adsorption. The Langmuir–Freundlich model and a statistical thermodynamics adsorption model, together with removal rates, were used to study the processes. High adsorption energies were found, especially in the adsorption of Fe(II) on the polymeric base (33.2 kJ∙mol−1). All materials were characterized using SEM, EDS and N2 sorption, TGA, and IR analyses. In conclusion, the hybrid material synthesized in this study is cheap and easy to produce through environmentally friendly synthesis, and it is a promising adsorbent for the prevention of pollution issues in effluent discharges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano-Adsorbents for the Removal of Heavy Metals and Dyes)
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15 pages, 4318 KiB  
Article
Multilayer Graphene Oxide Supported ZIF-8 for Efficient Removal of Copper Ions
by Xifeng Lv, Yishi Zhang, Xiaodong Wang, Libing Hu and Chunhui Shi
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(18), 3162; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12183162 - 13 Sep 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1694
Abstract
To address the performance deterioration of ZIF-8 for the adsorption of copper ions caused by powder volume pressure and particle aggregation, we employed multilayer graphene oxide (MGO) as a support to prepare composite adsorbents (MGO@ZIF-8) by using the in situ growth of ZIF-8 [...] Read more.
To address the performance deterioration of ZIF-8 for the adsorption of copper ions caused by powder volume pressure and particle aggregation, we employed multilayer graphene oxide (MGO) as a support to prepare composite adsorbents (MGO@ZIF-8) by using the in situ growth of ZIF-8 on MGO. Due to a good interfacial compatibility and affinity between ZIF-8 and graphene nanosheets, the MGO@ZIF-8 was successfully prepared. The optimal Cu2+ adsorption conditions of MGO@ZIF-8 were obtained through single factor experiments and orthogonal experiments. Surprisingly, the Cu2+ adsorption capacity was significantly improved by the integration of MGO and ZIF-8, and the maximum Cu2+ adsorption capacity of MGO@ZIF-8 reached 431.63 mg/g under the optimal adsorption conditions. Furthermore, the kinetic fitting and isotherm curve fitting confirmed that the adsorption law of Cu2+ by MGO@ZIF-8 was the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm model, which indicated that the process of Cu2+ adsorption was monolayer chemisorption. This work provides a new approach for designing and constructing ZIF-8 composites, and also offers an efficient means for the removal of heavy metals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nano-Adsorbents for the Removal of Heavy Metals and Dyes)
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