scholarly journals Validating the Efficiency of the FeS2 Method for Elucidating the Mechanisms of Contaminant Removal Using Fe0/H2O Systems

Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 1162
Author(s):  
Minhui Xiao ◽  
Xuesong Cui ◽  
Rui Hu ◽  
Willis Gwenzi ◽  
Chicgoua Noubactep

There is growing interest in using pyrite minerals (FeS2) to enhance the efficiency of metallic iron (Fe0) for water treatment (Fe0/H2O systems). This approach contradicts the thermodynamic predicting suppression of FeS2 oxidation by Fe0 addition. Available results are rooted in time series correlations between aqueous and solid phases based on data collected under various operational conditions. Herein, the methylene blue method (MB method) is used to clarify the controversy. The MB method exploits the differential adsorptive affinity of MB onto sand and sand coated with iron corrosion products to assess the extent of Fe0 corrosion in Fe0/H2O systems. The effects of the addition of various amounts of FeS2 to a Fe0/sand mixture (FeS2 method) on MB discoloration were characterized in parallel quiescent batch experiments for up to 71 d (pH0 = 6.8). Pristine and aged FeS2 specimens were used. Parallel experiments with methyl orange (MO) and reactive red 120 (RR120) enabled a better discussion of the achieved results. The results clearly showed that FeS2 induces a pH shift and delays Fe precipitation and sand coating. Pristine FeS2 induced a pH shift to values lower than 4.5, but no quantitative MB discoloration occurred after 45 d. Aged FeS2 could not significantly shift the pH value (final pH ≥ 6.4) but improved the MB discoloration. The used systematic sequence of experiments demonstrated that adsorption and coprecipitation are the fundamental mechanisms of contaminant removal in Fe0/H2O systems. This research has clarified the reason why a FeS2 addition enhances the efficiency of Fe0 environmental remediation.

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 548
Author(s):  
Viet Cao ◽  
Ghinwa Alyoussef ◽  
Nadège Gatcha-Bandjun ◽  
Willis Gwenzi ◽  
Chicgoua Noubactep

The typical time-dependent decrease of the iron corrosion rate is often difficult to consider while designing Fe0-based remediation systems. One of the most promising approaches is the amendment with manganese dioxide (Fe0/MnO2 system). The resulting system is a very complex one where characterization is challenging. The present communication uses methylene blue discoloration (MB method) to characterize the Fe0/MnO2 system. Shaken batch experiments (75 rpm) for 7 days were used. The initial MB concentration was 10 mg L−1 with the following mass loading: [MnO2] = 2.3 g L−1, [sand] = 45 g L−1, and 0 < [Fe0] (g L−1) ≤ 45. The following systems where investigated: Fe0, MnO2, sand, Fe0/MnO2, Fe0/sand, and Fe0/MnO2/sand. Results demonstrated that MB discoloration is influenced by the diffusive transport of MB from the solution to the aggregates at the bottom of the test-tubes. Results confirm the complexity of the Fe0/MnO2/sand system, while establishing that both MnO2 and sand improve the efficiency of Fe0/H2O systems in the long-term. The mechanisms of water decontamination by amending Fe0-based systems with MnO2 is demonstrated by the MB method.


Author(s):  
Hu ◽  
Noubactep

A survey of the literature on using metallic iron (Fe0) for environmental remediation suggests that the time is ripe to center research on the basic relationship between iron corrosion and contaminant removal. This communication identifies the main problem, which is based on the consideration that contaminant reductive transformation is the cathodic reaction of iron oxidative dissolution. Properly considering the inherent complexities of the Fe0/H2O system will favor an appropriate research design that will enable more efficient and sustainable remediation systems. Successful applications of Fe0/H2O systems require the collective consideration of progress achieved in understanding these system. More efforts should be made to decipher the long-term kinetics of iron corrosion, so as to provide better approaches to accurately predict the performance of the next generation Fe0-based water treatment systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Hu ◽  
Xuesong Cui ◽  
Minhui Xiao ◽  
Willis Gwenzi ◽  
Chicgoua Noubactep

AbstractThe role of pyrite (FeS2) in the process of water treatment using metallic iron (Fe0) was investigated. FeS2 was used as a pH-shifting agent while methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) were used as an indicator of reactivity and model contaminant, respectively. The effect of the final pH value on the extent of MB discoloration was characterized using 5 g L−1 of a Fe0 specimen. pH variation was achieved by adding 0 to 30 g L−1 of FeS2. Quiescent batch experiments with Fe0/FeS2/sand systems (sand loading: 25 g L−1) and 20 mL of MB were performed for 41 days. Final pH values varied from 3.3 to 7.0. Results demonstrated that MB discoloration is only quantitative when the final pH value was larger than 4.5 and that adsorption and co-precipitation are the fundamental mechanisms of decontamination in Fe0/H2O systems. Such mechanisms are consistent with the effects of the pH value on the decontamination process.


Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 885
Author(s):  
Aida M. Díez ◽  
Helen E. Valencia ◽  
Maria Meledina ◽  
Joachim Mayer ◽  
Yury V. Kolen'ko

Considering water scarcity, photo-based processes have been presented as a depollution technique, which should be optimized in order to be applied in the future. For that, the addition of an active photocatalyst and the usage of solar radiation are mandatory steps. Thus, Fe3O4–SiO2–TiO2 was synthesized, and its performance was evaluated using simulated solar radiation and methylene blue as a model pollutant. Under optimal conditions, 86% degradation was attained in 1 h. These results were compared to recent published data, and the better performance can be attributed to both the operational conditions selection and the higher photocatalyst activity. Indeed, Fe3O4–SiO2–TiO2 was physico-chemically characterized with techniques such as XRD, N2 isotherms, spectrophotometry, FTIR, electrochemical assays and TEM.


Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 589
Author(s):  
Sivagowri Shanmugaratnam ◽  
Balaranjan Selvaratnam ◽  
Aravind Baride ◽  
Ranjit Koodali ◽  
Punniamoorthy Ravirajan ◽  
...  

Earth–abundant transition metal chalcogenide materials are of great research interest for energy production and environmental remediation, as they exhibit better photocatalytic activity due to their suitable electronic and optical properties. This study focuses on the photocatalytic activity of flower-like SnS2 nanoparticles (composed of nanosheet subunits) embedded in TiO2 synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. The materials were characterized using different techniques, and their photocatalytic activity was assessed for hydrogen evolution reaction and the degradation of methylene blue. Among the catalysts studied, 10 wt. % of SnS2 loaded TiO2 nanocomposite shows an optimum hydrogen evolution rate of 195.55 µmolg−1, whereas 15 wt. % loading of SnS2 on TiO2 exhibits better performance against the degradation of methylene blue (MB) with the rate constant of 4.415 × 10−4 s−1 under solar simulated irradiation. The improved performance of these materials can be attributed to the effective photo-induced charge transfer and reduced recombination, which make these nanocomposite materials promising candidates for the development of high-performance next-generation photocatalyst materials. Further, scavenging experiments were carried out to confirm the reactive oxygen species (ROS) involved in the photocatalytic degradation. It can be observed that there was a 78% reduction in the rate of degradation when IPA was used as the scavenger, whereas around 95% reduction was attained while N2 was used as the scavenger. Notably, very low degradation (<5%) was attained when the dye alone was directly under solar irradiation. These results further validate that the •OH radical and the superoxide radicals can be acknowledged for the degradation mechanism of MB, and the enhancement of degradation efficiency may be due to the combined effect of in situ dye sensitization during the catalysis and the impregnation of low bandgap materials on TiO2.


2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakthivel Pitchaimuthu ◽  
Ponnusamy Velusamy

An attempt has been made to enhance the photocatalytic activity of CeO2 for visible light assisted decoloration of methylene blue (MB) dye in aqueous solutions by β-cyclodextrin (β-CD). The inclusion complexation patterns between host and guest (i.e., β-CD and MB) have been confirmed with UV–visible spectral data. The interaction between CeO2 and β-CD has also been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis. The photocatalytic activity of the catalyst under visible light was investigated by measuring the photodegradation of MB in aqueous solution. The effects of key operational parameters such as initial dye concentration, initial pH, CeO2 concentration as well as illumination time on the decolorization extents were investigated. Among the processing parameters, the pH of the reaction solution played an important role in tuning the photocatalytic activity of CeO2. The maximum photodecoloration rate was achieved at basic pH (pH 11). Under the optimum operational conditions, approximately 99.6% dye removal was achieved within 120 min. The observed results indicate that the decolorization of the MB followed a pseudo-first order kinetics.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 4396-4405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teo Peik-See ◽  
Alagarsamy Pandikumar ◽  
Lim Hong Ngee ◽  
Huang Nay Ming ◽  
Chia Chin Hua

Synthesis of magnetically separable rGO/Fe3O4nanocomposite materials for environmental remediationviathe photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue.


2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 451-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameer Al-Asheh ◽  
Fawzi Banat ◽  
Leena Abu-Aitah

An improvement in the adsorption capacity of naturally available bentonite towards water pollutants such as Methylene Blue dye (MBD) is certainly needed. For this purpose, sodium bentonite was activated by two methods: (1) treatment with sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) as an ionic surfactant and (2) thermal treatment in an oven operated at 850°C. Batch adsorption tests were carried out on removing MBD from aqueous solution using the above-mentioned bentonites. It was found that the effectiveness of bentonites towards MBD removal was in the following order: thermal-bentonite > SDS-bentonite > natural bentonite. X-Ray diffraction analysis showed that an increase in the microscopic bentonite platelets on treatment with SDS was the reason behind the higher uptake of MBD. An increase in sorbent concentration or initial pH value of the solutions resulted in a greater removal of MBD from the solution. An increase in temperature led to an increase in MBD uptake by the bentonites studied in this work. The Freundlich isotherm model was employed and found to represent the experimental data well.


2012 ◽  
Vol 550-553 ◽  
pp. 2259-2262
Author(s):  
Song Bo Cui ◽  
Hua Yong Zhang ◽  
Lu Yi Zhang

The adsorption behavior of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solutions onto honeycomb-cinder (HC) and its acid-activated product was investigated in a batch system. The results showed the adsorption capacity was decreased for raw HC samples with the increase of pH value, while it was increased for activated samples. The adsorption data were fit with Langmuir isotherm model for MB adsorption by all samples. The MB adsorption capacity on samples was increased from 2.62 mg/g to 7.81 mg/g and 7.00 mg/g after acid-activated by HCl and H2SO4, respectively. The adsorption processes of MB followed pseudo-second-order kinetics with a coefficient of correlation≥0.99. This study demonstrated that acid-activated HC has superior adsorbing ability for MB than raw HC and can be used as alternative adsorbents in dye wastewater treatment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadia Qayyum ◽  
Ke Meng ◽  
Sidra Pervez ◽  
Faiza Nawaz ◽  
Changsheng Peng

Abstract Soil contamination with heavy metal content is a growing concern throughout the world as a result of industrial, mining, agricultural and domestic activities. Fungi are the most common and efficient group of heavy metal resistant microbe family which have potential for metal bioleaching. The use of filamentous fungi in bioleaching of heavy metals from contaminated soil has been developed recently. The current study intends to isolate a strain with the ability to degrade the pH value of the liquid medium. Identification results based on morphological and molecular biological analysis gave a 98% match to Aspergillus flavus. Batch experiments were conducted to select the optimal conditions for bioleaching process which indicated that 130 mg/ L sucrose, neutral pH and temperature of 30°C were more suitable during 15-day bioleaching experiments using A. flavus. In one-step bioleaching, the bioleaching efficiencies were 18.16% for Pb, 39.77% for Cd and 58.22% for Zn+2, while two-step bioleaching showed efficiencies of 16.91% for Pb, 49.66% for Cd and 65.73% for Zn+2. Overall, this study indicates that bioleaching of heavy metals in contaminated soil using A. flavus has the potential for contaminated soil remediation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document