Electrochemical processes for the treatment of contaminant-rich wastewater: A comprehensive review.

Global water demand and environmental concerns related to climate change require industries to develop high-efficiency wastewater treatment methods to remove pollutants. Likewise, toxic pollutants present in wastewater negatively affect the environment and human health, requiring effective treatment. Although conventional treatment processes remove carbon and nutrients, they are insufficient to remove pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and plasticizers. Electrochemical processes effectively remove pollutants from wastewater through the mineralization of non-biodegradable pollutants with consequent conversion into biodegradable compounds. Its advantages include easy operation, versatility, and short reaction time. In this way, this review initially provides a global water scenario with a view to the future. It comprises global demand, treatment methods, and pollution of water resources, addressing various contaminants such as heavy metals, nutrients, organic compounds, and emerging contaminants. Subsequently, the fundamentals of electrochemical treatments are presented as well as electrochemical treatments, highlighting the latest studies involving electrocoagulation, electroflocculation, electroflotation, capacitive deionization and its derivatives, eletrodeionization, and electrochemical advanced oxidation process. Finally, the challenges and perspectives were discussed. In this context, electrochemical processes have proven promising and effective for the treatment of water and wastewater, allowing safe reuse practices and purification with high contaminant removal.

A global pollutant (PVC-polyvinyl chloride) applied as heavy metal binder from aqueous samples: green principles from synthesis to application.

We have developed a clean route for the modification of polyvinylchloride surface (PVC) with 4-amino-5-hydrazino-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol molecule. The modification reaction was investigated through Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. According to our findings, S-H groups are responsible to the molecule attachment and nitrogen atoms are directly involved in metal ion coordination. These results are in agreement with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, which infers that chemisorption is the main mechanism for metal removal. Adsorption isotherms of Cd(II), Cu(II) and Pb(II) follow the Langmuir model and the results indicated that Ns values are 0.39, 0.52 and 0.15 mmol g-1, respectively. The calculated Ømax values for Cu(II), Pb(II) and Cd(II) were 3.93, 2.95 and 1.13, respectively, indicating that three types of complex are formed depending on the adsorbed species. Therefore, it can be concluded that PVC use as adsorbent is feasible since it requires a simple modification reaction with nontoxic and low-cost solvents.

Synthesis and application of graphene oxide as a nanoadsorbent to remove Cd (II) and Pb (II) from water: adsorption equilibrium, kinetics, and regeneration.

In this work, graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by the modified Hummers method. The nanomaterial was characterized by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and pH at the point of zero charge. GO exhibited typical characteristics of graphene-based materials, indicating that graphite oxidation and exfoliation occurred successfully. Cd (II) and Pb (II) adsorption onto GO was carried out in batch systems, in which the effect of adsorbent dosage, contact time, and initial adsorbate concentration were evaluated. Langmuir, Freundlich, and Sips isotherm models, as well as pseudo order models and Elovich kinetic equation were applied to adsorption experimental data. Results indicated that increasing adsorbent mass, the removal efficiency of Cd (II) and Pb (II) increased. Freundlich isotherm better described Pb (II) adsorption (R2 = 0.96), while Cd (II) isotherm showed linear behavior. From the Akaike's AIC parameter, kinetic data were satisfactorily described by pseudo-first order (Cd (II)) and pseudo-n order (Pb (II)) models. GO was successfully subjected to five regeneration cycles, maintaining high efficiency (> 90%) in all cycles. GO showed high potential for the adsorption of Cd (II) and Pb (II) from aqueous solution, due to its high adsorption capacity, rapid Cd (II) and Pb (II) intakes, and great regeneration performance.

Chemical Modification of Agro-Industrial Waste-Based Bioadsorbents for Enhanced Removal of Zn(II) Ions from Aqueous Solutions.

Contamination of water by heavy metals is a major environmental concern due to the potential ecological impact on human health and aquatic ecosystems. In this work, we studied the chemical modification of various fruit peels such as banana (BP), granadilla (GP), and orange ones (OP) in order to obtain novel bio-adsorbents to improve the removal of Zn(II) ions from 50 mg·L-1 synthetic aqueous solutions. For this purpose, sodium hydroxide and calcium acetate were employed to modify the fruit peels. The moisture, extractives, lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose contents of the raw materials were determined according to ASTM standards. The obtained bio-adsorbents were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed the OP bio-adsorbents performed better, especially when the concentration of the modifier solutions increased, e.g., the OP particles modified using 0.8 M NaOH and Ca(CH3COO)2 solutions resulted in 97% removal of Zn(II) contaminating ions and reached a maximum adsorption capacity of 27.5 mg Zn per gram of bio-adsorbent. The adsorption processes were found to follow a pseudo-second order model. The error function sum of square error indicated the Freundlich isotherm (non-linear regression) as best fit model. The obtained results are particularly interesting for material selection in wastewater treatment technologies based on contaminant adsorption.

Differential effects of Zn concentrations on Cr(VI) uptake by two Salvinia species: involvement of thiol compounds.

Floating ferns of the genus Salvinia have great potential for phytoremediation of heavy metals. To date, the effect of essential metals on the accumulation and transport of toxic metals by aquatic ferns has not been suitably established. The aim of this study was to compare the ability of floating leaves of Salvinia minima and Salvinia rotundifolia species to accumulate Cr from Cr(VI solutions containing very low (0.02 mg L-1) and low (5 mg L-1) Zn concentrations. After 7-day metal-exposure period, results showed that Zn increased Cr accumulation in S. minima leaves whereas in S. rotundifolia decreased significantly. Contrarily Zn accumulation did not show great differences between species. This fact may indicate that Zn interfere Cr(VI) uptake by S. rotundifolia. Bioconcentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor (TF) were affected differently by Zn in both Salvinia species. Membrane stability index (MSI) of both Salvinia species was decreased significantly by 5 mg L-1 Zn concentration. Zn ions also increased hydrogen peroxide accumulation in fronds of Salvinia species. Total thiols (TT), non-protein thiols (NPT) and protein-bound thiols (PBT) were differentially affected by Cr(VI) and Zn ions. This study provides evidences on the involvement of different mechanisms against Cr(VI)/Zn toxicity in S. minima and S rotundifolia species.

Increased Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions in Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with Improved Dispersion Stability.

In recent years, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been intensively studied as an effective adsorbent for the removal of pollutants from wastewater. One of the main problems for its use corresponds to the agglomeration of the CNTs due to the interactions between them, which prevents using their entire surface area. In this study, we test the effect of dispersion of oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the removal of heavy metals from acidic solutions. For this, polyurethane filters were dyed with a well-dispersed oxidized MWCNTs solution using chemical and mechanical dispersion methods. Filters were used in column experiments, and the sorption capacity increased more than six times (600%) compared to experiments with suspended MWCNTs. Further, kinetic experiments showed a faster saturation on MWCNTs in column experiments. These results contribute to a better understanding of the effect of dispersion on the use of CNTs as heavy metal ions adsorbent.

Development of an Adsorbing System Made of DMS-1 Mesh Modified by Amino Groups to Remove Pb(II) Ions from Water.

Water pollution by heavy metals represents several health risks. Conventional technologies employed to eliminate lead ions from residual or drinking water are expensive, therefore an efficient and low-cost technique is required and adsorption processes are a good alternative. In this work, the goal was to determine the adsorption capacity of a Disordered Mesoporous Silica 1 material (DMS-1) functionalized with amino groups, for Pb(II) ions removal. DMS-1 was prepared by sol-gel method and the incorporation of amino groups was performed by ex-situ method. As the source of amine groups, (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) was used and three different xNH2/DMS-1 molar ratios (0.2, 0.3, 0.4) were evaluated. In order to evaluate the incorporation of the amino group into the mesopore channels, thermal and structural analysis were made through Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), nitrogen adsorption-desorption at 77 K by Specific Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (SBET) method, Fourier Transfer Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The higher Pb(II) ions removal was achieved with the 0.3 molar proportion of xNH2/DMS-1 reaching 99.44% efficiency. This result suggests that the functionalized material can be used as an efficient adsorbent for Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution.

Post-treatment of paint industry effluents by filtration using Andropogon biochar (Andropogon gayanus Kunth cv. Planaltina).

This study evaluates the filtration potential of the biomass obtained from Andropogon grass (Andropogon gayanus Kunth cv. Planaltina) that was converted to biochar by pyrolysis. The biochar is used in filtration systems for the post-treatment of paint industry effluents. The biomass is characterized by elemental analysis (CHSN-O), determination of specific compounds (cellulose/hemicellulose/lignin), FTIR, and SEM. The produced biochar is characterized by SEM, TGA, and surface area analysis. The efficiency of the filters is evaluated by the following parameters: color, turbidity, removal of total solids (suspended and sedimentable), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and metals (Al, Cu, Zn, Co, Cd, and Cr(VI)). Over 99% removal of aluminum, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium is achieved. Moreover, almost 100% of COD and solids are removed, whereas turbidity and color are reduced by over 90%.

Enhanced Heavy Metal Removal from Acid Mine Drainage Wastewater Using Double-Oxidized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes.

Due to the unique properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), they have attracted great research attention as an emergent technology in many applications including water and wastewater treatment. However, raw CNTs have few functional groups, which limits their use in heavy metal removal. Nevertheless, their removal properties can be improved by oxidation processes that modify its surface. In this study, we assessed the capacity of oxidized and double-oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to remove heavy metals ions from acidic solutions. The MWCNTs were tested for copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) removal, which showed an increment of 79%, 78%, and 48%, respectively, with double-oxidized MWCNTs compared to oxidized MWCNTs. Moreover, the increase in pH improved the sorption capacity for all the tested metals, which indicates that the sorption potential is strongly dependent on the pH. The kinetic adsorption process for three metals can be described well with a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Additionally, in multimetallic waters, the sorption capacity decreases due to the competition between metals, and it was more evident in the removal of Zn, while Cu was less affected. Besides, XPS analysis showed an increase in oxygen-containing groups on the MWCNTs surface after oxidation. Finally, these analyses showed that the chemical interactions between heavy metals and oxygen-containing groups are the main removal mechanism. Overall, these results contribute to a better understanding of the potential use of CNTs for water treatment.

Evaluation of the dynamics of microalgae population structure and process performance during piggery wastewater treatment in algal-bacterial photobioreactors.

The dynamics of microalgae population during piggery wastewater (PWW) treatment in four open photobioreactors operated at 27days of hydraulic retention time, and inoculated with Chlorella sp. (R1), Acutodesmus obliquus (R2), Oscillatoria sp. (R3) and in the absence of inoculum (R4), were evaluated for 6months. In addition, the algal-bacterial biomass concentration, removal of organic matter, nutrients and heavy metals were also assessed. The results revealed a high diversity and rapid variations in the structure of microalgae populations, Chlorella sp. being dominant in R4 throughout most of the operational period. Steady state average biomass concentration ranged from 2445-2610mg/L in R1-R3 to 3265mg/L in R4. No significant differences were recorded in the removal efficiencies (REs) of total organic carbon (86-87%), inorganic carbon (62-71%), total nitrogen (82-85%) and total phosphorous (90-92%). Finally, Zn-REs accounted for 26% in R3, 37% in R2, and 49% in R1 and R4.

Chromium removal by zeolite-rich materials obtained from an exhausted FCC catalyst: Influence of chromium incorporation on the sorbent structure.

A spent FCC catalyst was converted into a zeolitic mixture, and the product obtained was afterward used as trapping material for Cr(III) species frequently found in aqueous solutions. Eventual changes in the sorbent structure produced by Cr incorporation were studied by different characterization techniques such as point of zero charge determinations (PZC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and infrared absorption (FTIR). The XRD and FTIR analyses indicated that chromium incorporation produces an amorphization of the material, and PZC measurements show no surface adsorption of charged chromium species. SEM and EDX analyses clearly show that after chromium sorption, the initial microspheroidal catalyst morphology was maintained, and the presence of chromium species was mainly detected in the outer microsphere surface, where the zeolite crystals were hydrothermally grown.