Adsorption studies of etherdiamine onto modified sugarcane bagasses in aqueous solution.

In this study sugarcane bagasse was modified with succinic anhydride and EDTA dianhydride to obtain SCB 2 and EB adsorbents, respectively. These adsorbents were used to remove etherdiamine, which is used for iron ore flotation from single aqueous solutions. The removal and recovery of etherdiamine is important for environmental and economic reasons due to its toxicity and high cost. The results demonstrated that adsorption of etherdiamine by SCB 2 and EB was better fitted by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model than pseudo-first-order and Elovich models. Adsorption isotherms were better fitted by the Langmuir model rather than the Freundlich, Sips, and Temkin models. The maximum adsorption capacities (Qmax) of SCB 2 and EB for etherdiamine adsorption were found to be 869.6 and 1203.5 mg/g, respectively. The calculated ΔG° values for adsorption of etherdiamine on SCB 2 (-22.70 kJ/mol) and EB (-19.10 kJ/mol) suggested that chemisorption is the main mechanism by which etherdiamine is removed from the aqueous solution for both adsorbents. The high Qmax values showed that SCB 2 and EB are potential adsorbents for recovering the etherdiamine and treating effluents produced from iron ore flotation.

Adsorption studies of methylene blue and gentian violet on sugarcane bagasse modified with EDTA dianhydride (EDTAD) in aqueous solutions: kinetic and equilibrium aspects.

In this study the adsorption of cationic dyes by modified sugarcane bagasse with EDTA dianhydride (EB) was examined using methylene blue (MB) and gentian violet (GV) as model compounds in aqueous single solutions. The synthesized adsorbent (EB) was characterized by FTIR, elemental analysis, and BET. The capacity of EB to adsorb dyes was evaluated at different contact times, pH values, and initial dye concentrations. According to the obtained results, the adsorption processes could be described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The adsorption isotherms were well fitted by the Langmuir model. Maximum adsorption capacities for MB and GV on EB were found to be 202.43 and 327.83 mg/g, respectively. The free energy change during adsorption of MB and GV was found to be -22.50 and -24.21 kJ/mol, respectively, suggesting that chemisorption is the main mechanism controlling the adsorption process.

Moringa oleifera oil influence on biodegradation behaviour of polymers.

Vegetable oils (VOs) can be used as plasticizers or as biodegrading additives for commercial polymers. According to the literature, the use of concentrations higher than 5% of oils added to polymers or their mixtures indicated loss of mechanical properties on the final product. However, VOs can be used as a compatibilizer for the mixture of synthetic polymers with biopolymers (PM) under concentrations higher than 5%. Moringa oleifera oil (MO) was used as a compatibilizer to PM mixtures using oil concentrations higher than 5%, 10% and 15% in mass. PMs were analysed at first based on mechanical properties which indicated a better concentration at 15% of MO. This article presents a study of MO influence on biodegradation behaviour of PM, which was composed of low-density polyethylene obtained from food bags and biopolymers (PB) obtained in market plastic bags. PM doped with different concentrations of MO was submitted to studies of mechanical, chemical, morphological and thermal properties and their biodegradation behaviour was evaluated. The concentration of 15% of MO increased the thermal resistance of PM, improved the biodegradation behaviour according to controlled and free tests and reduced its stiffness without a loss of important mechanical properties. The results of this work showed that MO influenced positively the biodegradation of the PM mixture by improving 30% of the degrading speed.

Synthesis and application of sugarcane bagasse cellulose mixed esters. Part I: Removal of Co2+ and Ni2+ from single spiked aqueous solutions in batch mode using sugarcane bagasse cellulose succinate phthalate.

Sugarcane bagasse cellulose mixed ester succinate phthalate (SBSPh) was synthesized by a novel one-pot reaction method. The effects of temperature, time and mole fraction of succinic anhydride (χSA) on the responses weight gain (wg), number of carboxylic acid groups (nT,COOH), and adsorption capacity (q) of Co2+ and Ni2+ were evaluated by a 23 experimental design. The chemical structure of the material was elucidated by Fourier transform infrared, 13C Multiple Cross-Polarization solid-state NMR spectroscopy and 1H NMR relaxometry. The best SBSPh synthesis condition (100 °C, 11 h, χSA of 0.2) yielded a wg of 59.1%, nT,COOH of 3.41 mmol g-1, and values of qCo2+ and qNi2+ of 0.348 and 0.346 mmol g-1, respectively. The Sips model fitted better the equilibrium data, and the maximum adsorption capacities (pH 5.75 and 25 °C) estimated by this model were 0.62 and 0.53 mmol g-1 for Co2+ and Ni2+, respectively. The ΔadsH° values estimated by isothermal titration calorimetry were 8.43 and 7.79 kJ mol-1 for Co2+ and Ni2+, respectively. Desorption and re-adsorption efficiencies were evaluated by a 22 experimental design, which showed that SBSPh adsorbent can be recovered and reused without significant loss of adsorption capacity.

Adsorption of heavy metal ion from aqueous single metal solution by chemically modified sugarcane bagasse.

This work describes the preparation of new chelating materials derived from sugarcane bagasse for adsorption of heavy metal ions in aqueous solution. The first part of this report deals with the chemical modification of sugarcane bagasse with succinic anhydride. The carboxylic acid functions introduced into the material were used to anchor polyamines, which resulted in two yet unpublished modified sugarcane bagasse materials. The obtained materials were characterized by elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy (IR). The second part of this reports features the comparative evaluation of the adsorption capacity of the modified sugarcane bagasse materials for Cu(2+), Cd(2+), and Pb(2+) ions in aqueous single metal solution by classical titration. Adsorption isotherms were studied by the Freundlich and Langmuir models.

Optimization of cellulose and sugarcane bagasse oxidation: Application for adsorptive removal of crystal violet and auramine-O from aqueous solution.

Cellulose (Cel) and sugarcane bagasse (SB) were oxidized with an H3PO4-NaNO2 mixture to obtain adsorbent materials with high contents of carboxylic groups. The oxidation reactions of Cel and SB were optimized using design of experiments (DOE) and response surface methodology (RSM). The optimized synthesis conditions yielded Cox and SBox with 4.8mmol/g and 4.5mmol/g of carboxylic acid groups, respectively. Cox and SBox were characterized by FTIR, TGA, PZC and solid-state 13C NMR. The adsorption of the model cationic dyes crystal violet (CV) and auramine-O (AO) on Cox and SBox in aqueous solution was investigated as a function of the solution pH, the contact time and the initial dye concentration. The adsorption of CV and AO on Cox was described by the Elovich equation and the pseudo-first-order kinetic model respectively, while the adsorption of CV and AO on SBox was described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Adsorption isotherms were well fitted by the Langmuir and Konda models, with maximum adsorption capacities (Qmax) of 1117.8mg/g of CV and 1223.3mg/g of AO on Cox and 1018.2mg/g of CV and 682.8mg/g of AO on SBox. Desorption efficiencies were in the range of 50-52% and re-adsorption capacities varied from 65 to 81%, showing the possibility of reuse of both adsorbent materials.

Biological evaluation of crude and degummed oil from Moringa oleifera seeds

The aim of this work was to evaluate the oil extracted from Moringa oleifera (fam. Moringaceae) seeds from the nutritional standpoint. Nutritional evaluation of crude or degummed moringa oil or soybean oil (as a control) involved the determination of the Food Efficiency (FE) in male Fisher rats and the fatty acid composition of the moringa oil. Hepatic and renal functions were assessed by measuring serum transaminases activity and urea and creatinine concentrations, respectively. Serum cholesterol and triglycerides, alkaline phosphatase, total proteins and albumine were also measured. Results showed that FE was slightly increased by the crude moringa oil while no differences were found between the soybean and degummed moringa oil regarding this parameter. Renal or hepatic injures as well as major alterations in serum proteins were not induced by the tested oils. These results suggested that degummed M. oleifera oil possessed adequate biological quality as compared to the crude oil.