Dehydration technique with 80% sulfuric acid was used to create a novel biochar from mandarin peel wastes followed by condensate with triethylenetetramine (TETA) to give Mandarin Biochar-TETA (MBT). BJH, BET, FTIR, SEM, DSC, TGA, and EDX studies were used to characterise the MBT. The capacity of the newly developed biochar to remove Acid Yellow 11 (AY11) dye from a water solution was studied. The pH of AY11 dye adsorption was found to be best at pH 1.5. Using 100 ppm AY11 dye as a beginning concentration and 1.75 g L–1 MBT dose, the greatest percent of AY11 dye removal by MBT was 97.83%. The MBT calculated maximum adsorption capacity (Qm) was 384.62 mg g–1. Langmuir (LIM), Freundlich (FIM), Tempkin (TIM), and Dubinin–Radushkevich (DRIM) isotherm models were applied to analyse the experimental data. Furthermore, the results of these isotherm models were investigated by various known error function equations. The MBT experimental data was best suited by the LIM. Pseudo-first-order (PFO), pseudo-second-order (PSO), Elovich kinetic model (EKM), intraparticle diffusion (IPD), and film diffusion (FD) models were used to calculate kinetic data. A PSO rate model with a high correlation (R2 > 0.990) was used to assess the adsorption rate. The main mechanism of the MBT adsorption method of the AY11 dye’s anions adsorption is the electrostatic attractive forces that arise with the increase of positively charged sites in an acidic medium. The obtained data suggest that the prepared MBT adsorbent has the potential to be an effective material to remove the AY11 dye from water and that it may be used repeatedly without losing its adsorption efficiency.

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One of the dominant species of green algae growing along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt is Ulva lactuca. Pretreatment can have a major effect on biogas production because hydrolysis of the algae cell wall structure is a rate-limiting stage in the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. The use of ozone, a new pretreatment, to boost biogas production from the green algae Ulva lactuca was investigated in this study. Ozonation at various dosages was used in contrast to untreated biomass, and the effect on the performance of subsequent mesophilic AD using two separate inoculums (cow manure and activated sludge) was examined. The findings indicated that, in different studies, ozonation pretreatment showed a substantial increase in biogas yield relative to untreated algae. With an ozone dose of 249 mg O3 g–1 VS algal for Ulva lactuca, the highest biogas output (498.75 mL/g VS) was achieved using cow manure inoculum. The evaluation of FTIR, TGA, SEM, and XRD revealed the impact of O3 on the structure of the algal cell wall and integrity breakage, which was thus established as the main contributor to improving the biogas production.

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The difference between physical activations (by sonications) and chemical activations (by ammonia) on sawdust biochar has been investigated in this study by comparing the removal of Cu(II) ions from an aqueous medium by adsorption on sawdust biochar (SD), sonicated sawdust biochar (SSD), and ammonia-modified sawdust biochar (SDA) with stirring at room temperature, pH value of 5.5–6.0, and 200 rpm. The biochar was prepared by the dehydrations of wood sawdust by reflux with sulfuric acid, and the biochar formed has been activated physically by sonications and chemically by ammonia solutions and then characterized by the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR); Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET); scanning electron microscope (SEM); thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA); and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) analyses. The removal of Cu(II) ions involves 100 mL of sample volume and initial Cu(II) ion concentrations (conc) 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, and 200 mg L−1 and the biochar doses of 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 mg. The maximum removal percentage of Cu(II) ions was 95.56, 96.67, and 98.33% for SD, SSD, and SDA biochars, respectively, for 50 mg L−1 Cu(II) ion initial conc and 1.0 g L−1 adsorbent dose. The correlation coefficient (R2) was used to confirm the data obtained from the isotherm models. The Langmuir isotherm model was best fitted to the experimental data of SD, SSD, and SDA. The maximum adsorption capacities (Qm) of SD, SSD, and SDA are 91.74, 112.36, and 133.33 mg g−1, respectively. The degree of fitting using the non-linear isotherm models was in the sequence of Langmuir (LNR) (ideal fit) > Freundlich (FRH) > Temkin (SD and SSD) and FRH (ideal fit) > LNR > Temkin (SDA). LNR and FRH ideally described the biosorption of Cu(II) ions to SD and SSD and SDA owing to the low values of χ2 and R2 obtained using the non-linear isotherm models. The adsorption rate was well-ordered by the pseudo-second-order (PSO) rate models. Finally, chemically modified biochar with ammonia solutions (SDA) enhances the Cu(II) ions’ adsorption efficiency more than physical activations by sonications (SSD). Response surface methodology (RSM) optimization analysis was studied for the removal of Cu(II) ions using SD, SSD, and SDA biochars.

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Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) have in recent times shown effective adsorption capability for the confiscation of colour contaminants from aqueous environments (aquatic ecosystems or water bodies) due to the fact that ZnO contains more functional groups. Direct blue 106 (DB106) dye was selected for this present study as a model composite due to its wide range of uses in textiles (cotton and wools), woods, and paper industries, as well as their therapeutic applications, along with its potential for impairments. This study therefore focuses on the use of DB106 dye as a model composite due to its wide range of uses in textiles (cotton and wools), woods, and paper industries, as well as their therapeutic applications and their potential for impairments. Furthermore, the surface functionalization, shape, and composite pore size were revealed by TEM, FTIR, UV, and BET techniques. The current study uses green synthesis method to prepare ZnO-NPs as an adsorbent for the DB106 dye molecules adsorption under various conditions using the batch adsorption process. The adsorption of DB106 dye to the ZnO-NPs biosorbent was detected to be pH-dependent, with optimal adsorption of DB106 (anionic) dye particles observed at pH 7. DB106 dye adsorption to the synthesized ZnO-NPs adsorbent was distinct by means of the linearized Langmuir (LNR) and pseudo-second-order (SO) models, with an estimated maximum adsorption capacity (Qm) of 370.37 mg/g. Graphical Abstract

Adsorbents from local materials with high adsorption capacity (Qm) are strongly needed. In this study, mandarin peels (MP) as a local waste material were refluxed in 80% sulfuric acid (H2SO4) to produce a novel biochar, which was oxidized by boiling in 50% hydrogen perioxide (H2O2) and then aminated via refluxing in tetraacetic acid (TETA) to produce mandarin biochar‐C‐TETA (MBCT). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray (EDX), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermgravimetric analysis (TGA) studied various characterizations of MBCT. The optimal pH for AY17 dye absorption was discovered to be 1.5 using 0.75 g L−1 MBCT, the maximum absorption capacity predicted for the MBCT was 1250 mg g−1. The high new absorption peaks at 1439.89 and 1362.38 cm−1 in MBCT imply that amino groups were successfully generated onto the surface of MBCT due to TETA treatment. The experimental data were examined using the Langmuir (LNR) and Freundlich (FRH) isotherm models. The FRH best explained the experimental MBCT data. The pseudo‐first‐order (PFOM) and pseudo‐second‐order (PSOM) models, intraparticle diffusion (INDM) and film diffusion (FDM) models were applied to calculate the kinetic data. The PFOM rate model ideally defined the absorption of AY17 dye to MBCT with a linear regression coefficient (R2 > 0.99). The key mechanism for absorbing AY17 dye molecules to MBCT was chemisorption, which entails the distribution or exchange of electrons between the absorbent and the dye due to the valency force. According to the findings, the novel MBCT adsorbent had a remarkable adsorption capacity (Qm = 1250 mg g−1) and could be reused without losing its absorption effectiveness. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).