scholarly journals Synthesis of Nanoscale Zerovalent Iron (nZVI) Supported on Biochar for Chromium Remediation from Aqueous Solution and Soil

Author(s):  
Haixia Wang ◽  
Mingliang Zhang ◽  
Hongyi Li

Maize straw biochar-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron composite (MSB-nZVI) was prepared for efficient chromium (Cr) removal through alleviating the aggregation of zero-valent iron particles. The removal mechanism of MSB-nZVI was investigated by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Cr(VI) removal from aqueous solution by MSB-nZVI was greatly affected by pH and initial concentration. The removal efficiency of Cr(VI) decreased with increasing pH, and the removal kinetics followed the pseudo-second-order model. XRD patterns of MSB-nZVI before and after reaction showed that reduction and precipitation/co-precipitation (FeCr2O4, Fe3O4, Fe2O3) occurred with the conversion of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) and Fe(0) to Fe(II)/Fe(III). The produced precipitation/co-precipitation could be deposited on the MSB surface rather than being only coated on the surface of nZVI particles, which can alleviate passivation of nZVI. For remediation of Cr(VI)-contaminated saline–alkali soil (pH 8.6–9.0, Cr 341 mg/kg), the released amount of Cr(VI) was 70.7 mg/kg, while it sharply decreased to 0.6–1.7 mg/kg at pH 4.0–8.0, indicating that the saline–alkali environment inhibited the remediation efficiency. These results show that MSB-nZVI can be used as an effective material for Cr(VI) removal from aqueous solution and contaminated soil.

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (7) ◽  
pp. 1339-1349
Author(s):  
Fengfeng Ma ◽  
Bakunzibake Philippe ◽  
Baowei Zhao ◽  
Jingru Diao ◽  
Jian Li

Abstract Flax straw biochar (FSBC)-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) composite (nZVI-FSBC) combining the advantages of nZVI and biochar was synthesized and tested for Cr(VI) removal efficiency from aqueous solution. Surface morphology and structure of FSBC and nZVI-FSBC were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller techniques, which help to clarify the mechanism of Cr(VI) removal from aqueous solution. The adsorption of Cr(VI) onto FSBC and nZVI-FSBC was best described by the pseudo-second-order and the Sips model. Compared with FSBC, nZVI-FSBC remarkably improved the performance in removing Cr(VI) under identical experimental conditions. Due to the collaborative effect of adsorption and reduction of nZVI-FSBC, the adsorption capacity of nZVI-FSBC for Cr(VI) is up to 186.99 mg/g. The results obtained by XPS, XRD, and FTIR confirmed that adsorption and reduction dominated the processes of Cr(VI) removal by nZVI-FSBC. As a supporter, FSBC not only improved the dispersion of nZVI, but also undertook the adsorption task of Cr(VI) removal. The surface oxygen-containing functional groups of nZVI-FSBC mainly participated in the adsorption part, and the nZVI promoted the Cr(VI) removal through the redox reactions. These observations indicated that the nZVI-FSBC can be considered as potential adsorbents to remove Cr(VI) for environment remediation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jien Ye ◽  
Yi Wang ◽  
Qiao Xu ◽  
Hanxin Wu ◽  
Jianhao Tong ◽  
...  

AbstractPassivation of nanoscale zerovalent iron hinders its efficiency in water treatment, and loading another catalytic metal has been found to improve the efficiency significantly. In this study, Cu/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles were prepared by liquid-phase chemical reduction for removal of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) from wastewater. Synthesized bimetallic nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmet–Teller isotherm, and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that Cu loading can significantly enhance the removal efficiency of Cr(VI) by 29.3% to 84.0%, and the optimal Cu loading rate was 3% (wt%). The removal efficiency decreased with increasing initial pH and Cr(VI) concentration. The removal of Cr(VI) was better fitted by pseudo-second-order model than pseudo-first-order model. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that the Cr(VI) removal was spontaneous and endothermic, and the increase of reaction temperature facilitated the process. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis indicated that Cr(VI) was completely reduced to Cr(III) and precipitated on the particle surface as hydroxylated Cr(OH)3 and CrxFe1−x(OH)3 coprecipitation. Our work could be beneficial for the application of iron-based nanomaterials in remediation of wastewater.


2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (10) ◽  
pp. 2270-2280
Author(s):  
Yonggang Xu ◽  
Tianxia Bai ◽  
Yubo Yan ◽  
Yunfeng Zhao ◽  
Ling Yuan ◽  
...  

Abstract It is of great significance to remove Cr(VI) from water as a result of its high toxicity. Biochar from corn straw was modified by different acids (HNO3, H2SO4 and H3PO4) to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. To estimate the removal mechanisms of Cr(VI) by the acid-modified biochars, batch experiments were performed in the light of contact time, Cr(VI) concentration, and pH, and the characteristics of acid-modified biochars before and after Cr(VI) adsorption were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The adsorption kinetics of Cr(VI) by acid-modified biochars were consistent with the pseudo-second-order model, and the adsorption isotherm obeyed the Freundlich model. Furthermore, the acid- modified biochars could supply more oxygen-containing functional groups (-COOH and -OH) as electron donor (e−) and hydrogen ion (H+) to enhance the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III), resulting in enhanced removal of Cr(VI). HNO3-modified biochar exhibited the highest removal efficiency of Cr(VI). In general, the acid modifition of biochar was an effective method to increase the removal of Cr(VI).


Author(s):  
Bo Wang ◽  
Jie Yu ◽  
Hui Liao ◽  
Wenkun Zhu ◽  
Pingping Ding ◽  
...  

A novel natural honey hydrothermal biochar (HHTB) was prepared using natural honey as raw material. The as-prepared adsorbent was applied to adsorb Pb2+ from aqueous solution and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the structure and morphology change of the adsorbent before and after Pb2+ adsorption. The influence of the pH, initial Pb2+ concentration, temperature, and contact time on the adsorption of Pb2+ was systematically investigated. The results revealed that the adsorption capacity for Pb2+ is up to 133.2 mg·g−1 at initial pH of 5.0 and adsorption temperature of 298 K. Meanwhile, the adsorption of Pb2+ on HHTB can be well fitted by the pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir isotherm model. The adsorbent had great selectivity for Pb2+ from the aqueous solution containing coexisting ions including Cd2+, Co2+, Cr3+, Cu2+, Ni2+ and Zn2+. Furthermore, the adsorption of Pb2+ on HHTB was attributed to complexation coordination, where it involved hydroxyl and carboxylic groups on HHTB in the process of adsorption of Pb2+.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuqing Yao ◽  
Yaodong Dai ◽  
Shuquan Chang ◽  
Haiqian Zhang

Abstract In this work, novel Prussian blue tetragonal nanorods were prepared by template-free solvothermal methods for removal of radionuclide Cs and Sr. It was worth that Prussian blue nanorods exhibited the better adsorption performance than co-precipitation PB or Prussian blue analogue composites. Thermodynamic analysis implied that adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic which was described well with Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order equation, the maximum adsorption capacity of PB nanorod was estimated to be 194.26 mg g-1 and 256.62 mg g-1 for Cs+ and Sr2+. The adsorption mechanism of Cs+ and Sr2+ was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and 57Fe Mössbaure spectroscopy, the results revealed that Cs+ entered in PB crystal to generate a new phase, the most of Sr2+ was trapped in internal crystal and the other exchanged Fe2+. Furthermore, the effect of co-existing ions and pH for PB adsorption process were also investigated. The results suggest that PB nanorods were outstanding candidate for removal of Cs+ and Sr2+ from radioactive wastewater.


2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (11) ◽  
pp. 2106-2115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengfeng Ma ◽  
Baowei Zhao ◽  
Jingru Diao

Abstract A magnetic cotton stalk biochar (MCSBC) was synthesized through chemical co-precipitation, based on cotton stalk biochar (CSBC). The MCSBC and CSBC were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. The characterization analyses showed that the magnetization process endowed the CSBC with excellent magnetic properties with a superparamagnetic magnetization of 27.59 emu/g. Batch adsorption experiment results indicated that the Cr(VI) maximum adsorption capacity of MCSBC was 20.05 mg/g, which was higher than that of CSBC (18.77 mg/g). The adsorption kinetic data were well fitted by the pseudo-second-order model and the adsorption isotherms were well represented by the Sips isotherm model. The thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic, and the entropy increased. The potential adsorption mechanism was the electrostatic adsorption of anionic Cr(VI) to the positively charged MCSBC surface, the reduction of Cr(VI) into Cr(III) and the complexation of Cr(III) by oxygen-containing functional groups of MCSBC. The regeneration studies showed that MCSBC kept 80% of its initial Cr(VI) adsorption capacity in the cycle. All the findings suggest that this novel magnetic biochar could be used in the field of Cr(VI)-containing wastewater treatment.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuquan Chang ◽  
Xian Wu ◽  
Jianzhang Lan ◽  
Zheng Li ◽  
Xiaohong Zhang ◽  
...  

Quantum dots (QDs) have attracted great attention due to their unique optical properties. High fluorescence efficiency is very important for their practical application. In this study, we report a simple and efficient strategy to enhance the photoluminescence of water-dispersed thiol-capped QDs using γ-radiation. Three kinds of QDs with different surface ligands and cores (MPA-CdTe, MPA-CdSe and Cys-CdTe) were fabricated and irradiated by high-energy γ-ray in an aqueous solution. Their photoluminescence intensities were significantly enhanced after irradiation, which were closely related to the radiation dose and the structure of QDs. The positions of the fluorescence emission peaks did not shift obviously after irradiation. The mechanism of photoluminescence enhancement was discussed based on the results of photoluminescence (PL) spectra, UV-visible light absorption (UV-vis) spectra, transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This method can be employed to uniformly treat large batches of QDs at room temperature and without other chemicals.


2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (11) ◽  
pp. 2689-2696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongyu Wang ◽  
Zhuocheng Zou ◽  
Xuelian Xiao ◽  
Dan Chen ◽  
Kai Yang

Pectin-nanoscale zerovalent iron (PNZVI) has been studied as an effective phosphate adsorption material to remove highly concentrated phosphate from aqueous solution. Batch phosphate removal and equilibrium experiments were conducted in order to evaluate the effects of environmental factors such as pH, coexisting anions and ionic strengths on phosphate removal by PNZVI. The scanning electron microscope images of nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) and PNZVI demonstrated that PNZVI exhibited larger specific surface areas than NZVI so that PNZVI had higher phosphate removal efficiency than NZVI. Equilibrium experiments showed that phosphate adsorption by PNZVI was well fitted with the Freundlich and Langmuir models. In addition, the maximum adsorption capacity reached 277.38 mgP/gPNZVI. The ionic strengths and common anions showed no significant effects on the process of phosphate adsorption by PNZVI. The phosphate removal efficiency increased to a peak value with pH increased from 2.0 to 5.0, then decreased with pH further increased from 5.0 to 10.0. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses of PNZVI and P-loaded PNZVI indicated that adsorption, rather than redox reaction, was the dominant mechanism for the removal of phosphate by PNZVI.


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