Chitosan-induced self-assembly of montmorillonite nanosheets along the end-face for methylene blue removal from water.

In this study, chitosan-induced self-assembly of montmorillonite nanosheets (MMTNS) along the end-face to form the layered and porous structured composite with high adsorption capacity towards MB dye wastewater was investigated. The self-assembly process was driven by the hydrogen-bond interaction among -OH groups distributed along the end-face of MMTNS and -NH2 groups on chitosan (CS) chain, which finally formed the infinite two-dimensional lamellae. This technology remained the exposed adsorption sites on MMTNS surface, and solved the separation issue of spent MMTNS from water, making MMTNS/CS an excellent adsorption material for macromolecular MB dye. The maximum adsorption capacity of MMTNS/CS towards MB reached 243 mg/g, which was achieved via the Na+- exchange, hydrogen-bond and n-π stacking interactions with MB molecules. This work aimed at breaking through the bottleneck of small adsorption capacity of traditional MMT adsorbents, solving the problem of solid-liquid separation of nanosheets, and effectively reducing the adsorption cost, which might guide an important direction for adsorption material design and development in the future.

Facile preparation of sulfhydryl modified montmorillonite nanosheets hydrogel and its enhancement for Pb(II) adsorption.

In the work, sulfhydryl functionalized montmorillonite nanosheets based hydrogel balls were firstly synthesized for Pb(II) adsorption, and then characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), surface area analyzer (BET), thermogravimetry (TG), and zeta potential. Effects of initial solution pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, temperature on Pb(II) adsorption of the resulting hydrogel balls were investigated systematically. The experimental results showed that the increase amount of sulfhydryl functionalized montmorillonite nanosheets (MMTNs-SH) maintained the hydrogel balls a better porous structure and bigger specific surface area, endowing it a bigger adsorption capacity. The adsorption process was fitted well with pseudo-second-order kinetics model and Freundlich model, and more than 97% of Pb(II) could be removed under the optimum conditions. Moreover, hydrogel spheres have a certain cycle performance. In addition, the interactions between Pb(Ⅱ) ions and the oxygen atoms in the hydroxyl groups and the sulfur atoms in the sulfhydryl groups, and the ion exchange in MMTNs-SH dominated the adsorption.

Insight into the effect of oxidation degree of graphene oxides on their removal from wastewater via froth flotation.

The effect of oxidation degree of graphene oxides (GO) on their removal from wastewater via froth flotation was studied in this work. Four types of GO samples with different oxidation degrees were synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force spectroscopy (AFM) et al. The effects of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) concentration, pH, stirring time on the removal of GO by froth flotation had been discussed. It was found that the addition of CTAB could improve surface hydrophobicity of GO, endowing GO to be easily separated by froth flotation. The removal was dependent on CTAB dosage, pH and stirring time. Moreover, the removal first increased and then decreased with the increasing oxidation degree of GO, and less kinetic energy input was needed to overcome the energy barrier between GO flocs with the increase of oxidation degree. The removal mechanism was proven to be electrostatic attraction, and the different contents of oxgenous-containing functional groups in GOs with various oxidation degrees played a vital role in their removal via froth flotation.

Study on the Interaction between Galena and Sphalerite During Grinding Based on the Migration of Surface Components.

In Pb-Zn ore flotation, unintentional activation of sphalerite often leads to difficult separation of Pb and Zn minerals, during which grinding plays a key role in unintentional activation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the surface component changes of two different mineral particles and to propose the interaction between galena and sphalerite during mixed grinding using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). The results show that after mixed grinding of the galena and sphalerite, the Pb content on the sphalerite surface increased with the decrease of Zn and Fe contents on the sphalerite surface. The lead ions from galena were obviously absorbed onto the sphalerite surface, while the zinc and iron ions from sphalerite were not obviously migrated to the galena surface. Principal component analysis (PCA) of a dataset composed of 206 positive ion peaks of galena and sphalerite indicates that the surface components of galena and sphalerite migrated from either side to different degrees. This study successfully identified an important factor for unintentional activation of lead and zinc minerals during flotation: homogenization of surface components of different minerals during grinding.

A review of the applications of ion floatation: wastewater treatment, mineral beneficiation and hydrometallurgy.

Ion flotation was originally used for pre-concentrating precious metals from dilute solutions. To date, it has attracted widespread attention in many fields due to its low energy requirements, simplicity, rapid operation, small space requirements, suitability for a variety of target ions at various levels, small volume of sludge, low residual concentration, and low operating cost. This review focuses on the applications of ion flotation in wastewater treatment, mineral beneficiation, such as rare precious metal recovery, and hydrometallurgy, such as pre-concentrating of rare earth elements and selective separation of multicomponent ions. The outlook of ion flotation is also discussed.