Application of immobilized waste brewery yeast cells for Cd2+ removal. Equilibrium and kinetics

In this investigation, the removal of Cd2+ by a brewery waste biomass in immobilized (Ca alginate beads) form was studied. The removal process was conducted at room temperature under batch conditions (magnetic stirring) using different initial cadmium concentrations. The equilibrium of biosorption was reached in 150 min for all employed initial concentrations. The maximum biosorption capacity was calculated to be 5.96 mg Cd2+ g-1 yeast for an initial Cd2+ concentration of 169 mg L-1. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were used to correlate the equilibrium adsorption data. Based on the correlation coefficients, it was concluded that the Langmuir isotherm is more suitable for describing the equilibrium data of cadmium biosorption. In addition, first and pseudo-second order kinetic models were applied to describe the biosorption process. The kinetic parameters for the pseudo-second order kinetics were determined

Removal of Cu(II) from aqueous solution using a composite made from cocoa cortex and sodium alginate

International audienceThe aim of this work was to prepare a composite material based on cocoa cortex and sodium alginate and test it to remove Cu(II) ions in aqueous solution in batch conditions. The composite was characterized using elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTG), and point of zero charge. The highest amount of adsorbed Cu(II) for the composite was 19.54 mg/g, i.e., 95.32% of an initial concentration of 100 mg/L. Under the same conditions, the cocoa cortex untreated exhibited extremely low adsorption, while when it was treated with hot soda, it adsorbed 13.67 mg/g. Adsorption by the composite reached the equilibrium after 220 min. Kinetic data analysis suggested that the process was governed by adsorption (pseudo-second-order model) and diffusion through macropores and/or mesopores (intra-particle model). The adsorption isotherm that best described the system was Langmuir’s. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cu(II) was 76.92 mg/g. The values of the thermodynamic parameters indicated that the process was spontaneous, with ΔG° values between (− 7.886 and − 9.458 kJ/mol) and endothermic, with ΔH° = 7.728 kJ/mol

Transformation of heulandite type natural zeolites into synthetic zeolite LTA

This study developed an approach to synthesise zeolite LTA from three different natural heulandite class zeolite deposits (Escott, Avoca, and NextSand). The challenge was to determine the impact of pre-activation of clinoptilolite or heulandite materials upon the synthesis of zeolite LTA. Heulandite (Escott; Avoca) was thermally less stable (ca. 200 oC) than clinoptilolite (NextSand) (ca. 600 oC); with all samples losing cation exchange capacity as a result of heating at elevated temperature (ca. 120 to 30 meq/100 g). Attempts to synthesise zeolite LTA from as received natural zeolite under typical industry conditions (80 °C; 2 h) were not successful due to the stability of the natural zeolite framework. In agreement with this discovery, the amount of active alumina and silica was relatively small (80 % of monomeric silicates and aluminates. Significantly, the zeolite product resultant from hydrothermal synthesis of the activated materials comprised of ca. 85 % crystalline zeolite LTA and non-diffracting material; independent of the activation method or the identity of the natural zeolite. This study revealed that fusion activation of natural zeolites improved the robustness of the synthesis process and opened up new avenues for green zeolite formation. Future studies should focus on reducing the activation costs by lowering activation temperature and sodium hydroxide consumption.</p