Unexpected difference in phenol sorption on PTMA- and BTMA-bentonite.

The comparison of phenol sorption on phenyltrimethylammonium (PTMA)- and benzyltrimethylammonium (BTMA)-bentonite shows a clear difference as far as phenol sorption isotherms are concerned. For PTMA-bentonite the sorption isotherm is of a straight-line character which results from simple partitioning of phenol between the aqueous and organic phases sorbed on the bentonite surface. For BTMA-bentonite the isotherm has a convex shape, characteristic of physicochemical sorption. For the first time a three-parametric model, including the dissociation constant of phenol pK(a), distribution constant of phenol Kd(phen) and phenolate anion Kd(phen)(-) between the aqueous phase and the bentonite phases is used for the evaluation of phenol sorption on organoclays with pH change. The model shows that the values of Kd(phen) are higher than those of Kd(phen)(-) for all investigated initial phenol concentrations. The inspection of the FTIR spectrum of BTMA-bentonite loaded with phenol in the regions 1300-1600 and 1620-1680 cm(-1) shows the features of pi-pi electron interaction between the benzene rings of phenol and the BTMA cation together with the phenol-water hydrogen bond strengthened by this interaction.

Contribution of cobalt ion precipitation to adsorption in ion exchange dominant systems.

Contribution of metal ion precipitation to the adsorption of Co2+ ions from aqueous solutions onto sepiolite has been analyzed as a function of pH. Abstraction and precipitation isotherms are constructed to isolate the precipitation of cobalt from the real adsorption. The contribution of all cobalt species against pH is calculated from the available solubility products or acid constants. It is found that at pH 8.2, which is the onset of cobalt hydroxide precipitation, the distribution of adsorbed cobalt species is as follows: 92% Co2+, 7% CoOH+ and 1% Co(OH)2. The experimental values are in accord with the calculated uptake of cobalt species onto sepiolite. Adsorption of cobalt ions onto sepiolite before precipitation of cobalt is governed by ion exchange between the released Mg2+ ions from sepiolite matrix and those adsorbed Co2+ ions; this behavior differs from typical oxide (titanium dioxide) and silicate (quartz) minerals. However, adsorption of cobalt onto the same materials including sepiolite follows the same trend after the region of cobalt precipitation despite distinct differences in their charge profiles.

Decolorization of vegetable oils: chlorophyll-a adsorption by acid-activated sepiolite.

The adsorption characteristics of acid activated sepiolite (AAS) for the removal of chlorophyll-a (C(55)H(72)MgN(4)O(5)) from rapeseed oil was studied as a function of different sepiolite dosages and bleaching temperatures. A correlation has been shown between the adsorption capacity and a combination of AAS amount, bleaching temperature and oxidative reactions of chlorophyll-a. The adsorption equilibrium was found to follow the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 0.36 mg/g on AAS and K(L) value ranging from 6.11 to 19.51 kg/mg at 80 and 100 degrees C. It was found that AAS is an effective sorbent for the removal of chlorophyll-a molecule which is believed to adsorb as a protonated species onto SiOH groups at the edge in the tetrahedral sheet of sepiolite. These findings reveal that chlorophyll-a molecules not only adsorb onto the external surface of AAS but replace the released Mg(2+) ions in the octahedral sheet; they, depending on the pore size of AAS, are also incorporated in the channels and tunnels of sepiolite. A structural model is proposed to account for the orientation of chlorophyll-a in the sepiolite matrix.

Adsorption of anionic surfactants onto sepiolite.

Anionic surfactants constitute the main ingredients of detergents and a number of surfactant formulations used in a spectrum of diverse industries. The aim of this study is to examine the amenability of natural sepiolite to the adsorption of anionic surfactants, sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS). Adsorption isotherms exhibit three regions with distinctly different slopes. The first region is characterized by the complexation of anionic surfactants with Mg2+ ions at the octahedral sheet or hydrogen bonding between the oxygen groups of anionic head groups of surfactant and H+ of the bound or zeolitic water. The Mg2+ ions released from sepiolite leads to the precipitation of magnesium salt of surfactant in the second region. The third region marks both the beginning of plateau region and micellar dissolution of the precipitate. The effect of temperature on surfactant adsorption for SDS/sepiolite system was utilized to calculate such thermodynamic parameters as the free energy of adsorption (DeltaG(ads)(degrees)) and the heat of adsorption (DeltaH(ads)(degrees)). The low value of DeltaH(ads)(degrees) (1.87 kJ/mol) is an evidence for the physical adsorption of anionic surfactants onto sepiolite. The relatively large value of entropic contribution (-TDeltaS(ads)(degrees)) indicates that the adsorption of anionic surfactants onto sepiolite is entropically governed.

Mechanistic insight into pyrene removal by natural sepiolites.

This paper investigates the sorption characteristics and mechanisms of pyrene onto two types of natural sepiolite-brown (B-Sep) and white (W-Sep). The effects of relevant properties such as clay content, surface area, pore diameter and volume, divalent cations, and organic carbon content were investigated by single component batch adsorption systems. The results suggest that pyrene has high affinity for both sepiolite and its sorption behavior could be mainly affected by exchangeable strongly hydrated cations such as Ca2+ and H2O in the zeolite-like channels and by open channel defects (OCD) structures but no so much by the large number of Si-OH groups located on the sepiolite's basal surfaces. Mesoporosity rather than surface area largely controls the sorption capacity and intensity of both sepiolites. This is shown by the increase in pore volume that exhibited the greatest increase in BET surface area. Particle size and morphological changes of both sepiolites following pyrene adsorption determined by FE-SEM showed that the sepiolite fibers are much longer than their widths, which are only several laths (several nanometers). This is a result of growth, mostly along the c-axis, at the expense of the diffusion of pyrene molecules through aqueous solution. As a consequence, a significant fibrous morphology is produced following the adsorption of pyrene by both sepiolites.

Geological and technical characterisation of Iscehisar (Afyon-Turkey) marble deposits and the impact of marble waste on environmental pollution.

Turkey, due to its location in the Alpine-Himalayan belt, has numerous marble deposits. More than 250 marble types with different colours and patterns have been produced from these deposits and one hundred of these are well known around the world. One such well-known marble type is Afyon-Iscehisar. Afyon-Iscehisar is Palaeozoic in age and has been quarried since the era of the Roman empire. The Afyon region is known as one of the most important marble production and processing centres in Turkey. The Afyon province, which possesses 3.5% of exploitable marble reserves (3,872,000,000 tonne) in Turkey, yields 9% of the total marble block production. The 409 marble processing plants in Afyon produce 19% of the total slab in Turkey. As a result of marble production activities, approximately 340,000 tonne of marble waste has accumulated in the area. While some of these unshaped marble blocks are re-used and returned to the economy, the majority are discarded. There are two waste marble storage fields located in the Afyon-Iscehisar region. All of the solid and fine-grained marble waste is stored in waste marble storage fields in Susuz Bogazi and in the nearby Iscehisar marble quarries. The ecological effects of the marble waste, which were once discharged everywhere and exhibited visual pollution, has now been reduced to a minimal level.

Influence of media characteristics on energy dissipation in filter backwashing.

Effective cleaning of granular filters during backwashing processes needs maximum turbulence and maximum shear in the fluid particle field. The energy dissipation in a backwashed filter as a particulate fluidized bed arises due to the suspending and random motions of particles and turbulent fluctuations in the bed. Size, density, and sphericity of the filter materials greatly influence the fluidization behavior of the media. In this study, a new model is proposed for predicting the energy dissipation parameters namely the hydrodynamic shear stress (tau(a)), the velocity gradient (G(a)), the turbulence dissipation coefficient (C(a)), and the turbulence parameter (C(a)0.5/Re) in backwashing of filters for different types of filter materials (sand, anthracite, and glass ball). The hydrodynamic shear stress is the dominant mechanism of filter cleaning and appears to increase with increasing the density and size of the filter media particles. Using the basic set of data, a step by step procedure is developed to compute the velocity gradient G(a), the turbulence dissipation coefficient C(a), the hydrodynamic shear stress tau(a), and the turbulent parameter (C(a)0.5/ Re).