Dye contamination in wastewater affects the photosynthesis of aquatic plants and algae by blocking the sunlight, and it induces toxicity to aquatic organisms, which might result in human health effects. Thus, the treatment of dyes in wastewater is required before discharging into the receiving water for safety purposes. Six dye adsorbent materials bagasse beads (BB), bagasse fly ash beads (BFB), bagasse beads with mixed iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (BBF), bagasse fly ash beads with mixed iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (BFBF), bagasse beads with mixed zinc oxide (BBZ), and bagasse fly ash beads with mixed zinc oxide (BFBZ) were synthesized and investigated using various characterization techniques such as X-ray diffractometry (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy with focused ion beam (FESEM-FIB), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A series of batch experiments on the effects of dosage (0.5–3 g), contact time (3–18 h), temperature (30–80°C), pH (3–11), and initial concentration (30–90 mg/L) were used to investigate reactive blue 4 (RB4) dye removal efficiencies in aqueous solution, and their adsorption isotherms and kinetics were studied for explaining their adsorption patterns and mechanisms. All dye adsorbent materials demonstrated semicrystalline structures, and their surface morphologies had a spherical shape with coarse surfaces. Five main elements of oxygen, carbon, calcium, chlorine, and sodium and six main functional groups of alcohol and carboxylic acid (O–H), carbon dioxide (O=C=O), aromatic groups (C=O and N=O), alkene (C–H), and sodium alginate (C–O–C) were detected in all dye adsorbent materials. For batch tests, they could remove RB4 dye by more than 90%, and BFBF exhibited the highest RB4 dye removal efficiency at 99.36%. Freundlich and pseudo-second-order kinetic models well explained their adsorption patterns and mechanisms, in which BFBF demonstrated a higher maximum adsorption capacity ( q m ) of 10.277 mg/g than that of other dye adsorbent materials. Therefore, all dye adsorbent materials offer good potential for further industrial applications.

Bacteria contaminations in water are concerned as environmental effects including human health, so water treatment is required before use. Although using extracted plant is interesting because of their good chemical compounds for bacterial inhibitions, no study has applied the extracted plant in bead materials for disinfection in wastewater. The current research attempted to extract Cratoxylum formosum and Polygonum odoratum for the synthesis of C. formosum beads (CFB) and P. odoratum beads (POB), and their antibacterial efficiencies were investigated by agar diffusion tests, antibacterial batch tests, adsorption isotherm and kinetics, and material reusability. C. formosum and P. odoratum leaves were ethanol-extracted, and their bead materials (CFB and POB) were synthesized. Furthermore, their characterizations of surface area, chemical compositions, and chemical functional groups were investigated. For field emission scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam (FESEM-FIB) analysis, CFB and POB had spherical shapes with coarse surfaces. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) analysis of CFB and POB illustrated five main chemical compositions, which were carbon (C), oxygen (O), calcium (Ca), chlorine (Cl), and sodium (Na), whereas Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis identified seven main chemical functional groups, which were O−H, C−H, CO, CC, N−H, C−O, and C−Cl. Agar diffusion tests confirmed the abilities of CFB and POB to inhibit both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and batch experiments examined high antibacterial efficiencies of CFB of almost 100% on both bacterial types. The adsorption isotherm of CFB corresponded to the Freundlich model, which is related to the physiochemical adsorption process with multilayer or heterogeneous adsorption, and the adsorption kinetics of CFB was correlated to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, which involved chemisorption relating to physiochemical interaction. Moreover, the desorption experiment confirmed the reusability of CFB. Therefore, CFB is a potential material to possibly apply for disinfection of wastewater.

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Lead contamination in wastewater may affect aquatic organisms, the environment, and human consumption because it is a highly toxic metal that caused human health effects. Thus, it is recommended to remove lead before releasing it into the environment. Powdered and beaded chitosan materials modified with ZnO were synthesized and investigated by various characterized techniques. Lead removal efficiencies of chitosan materials were studied by batch experiments, adsorption isotherms, and kinetics. Chitosan powder (CP), chitosan beads (CB), chitosan beads mixed ZnO (CZB), and chitosan beads coated ZnO (ZCB) were synthesized. CP represented a semi-crystalline structure while CB was an amorphous structure. CZB and ZCB were semi-crystalline structures with ZnO peaks. CP was a scaly-sheet and coarse surface while CB, CZB, and ZCB were sphere shapes with scaly-sheet surfaces. C, O, and N were the main chemical elements in chitosan materials, and Zn was detected in CZB and ZCB. O–H, N–H, and C–O were the main functional groups of chitosan materials. All chitosan materials had high lead removal efficiencies of more than 92%, and Freundlich and pseudo-second-order kinetic models well explained their adsorption patterns and mechanisms. Therefore, both adding metal oxide and changing material form are recommended for improving material efficiency, and ZCB was a good offer for further industrial applications.

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