Chemical and microstructural analyses for heavy metals removal from water media by ceramic membrane filtration

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the ability of low cost ceramic membrane filtration in removing three common heavy metals namely; Pb, Cu, and Cd from water media. The work includes manufacturing ceramic membranes with dimensions of 15 by 15 cm and 2 cm thickness. The membranes were made from low cost materials of local clay mixed with different sawdust percentages of 0.5%, 2.0%, and 5.0%. The used clay was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence analysis. Aqueous solutions of heavy metals were prepared in the laboratory and filtered through the ceramic membranes. The influence of the main parameters such as pH, initial driving pressure head, and concentration of heavy metals on their removal efficiency by ceramic membranes was investigated. Water samples were collected before and after the filtration process and their heavy metal concentrations were determined by chemical analysis. Moreover, a microstructural analysis using scanning electronic microscope (SEM) was performed on ceramic membranes before and after the filtration process. The chemical analysis results showed high removal efficiency up to 99% for the concerned heavy metals. SEM images approved these results by showing adsorbed metal ions on sides of the internal pores of the ceramic membranes.

A review on advanced physico-chemical and biological textile dye wastewater treatment techniques

“…Because of the fouling issue, the influent water standards are to be analyzed before the ceramic membrane is utilized in the industrial wastewater treatment process. In removing the pollutants from the wastewater the ceramic membrane follows two steps (Ali et al 2017). All the particles that are enormous than the membrane size are blocked by the membrane, known as the selfretaining activity of the membrane.…”

Removal of heavy metals and pollutants by membrane adsorption techniques

“…Ali et al (2016) used ceramic membrane (with dimensions of 15 × 15 cm and 2 cm thickness) filtration in removing three common heavy metals namely; Pb 2+ , Cu 2+ , and Cd 2+ from water. The chemical analysis results showed high removal efficiency up to 99% for the concerned heavy metals.…”

Heavy metal removal applications using adsorptive membranes

“…Good dispersion in the nanocomposite requires electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged surface of the layered clay materials and polymers. For instance, Ali et al investigated the mixture of clay/sawdust to remove Pb 2+ , Cu 2+ , and Cd 2+ from water [57]. The results suggest that removal efficiency was high and up to 99.0% for these heavy metals based on chemical analysis and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images ( Fig.…”

“…In the case of PCMs, PCMs with porous structure and high surface area are almost applied for catalytic and absorptive applications [57], as well as a large area is truly required to interact with reactants. As known, the surface of raw bentonite was known to be a smooth one with irregular shapes and aggregated together via intermolecular forces, which led to considering recently in the modification of bentonite surface.…”

“…to be attained the surface morphological structures appropriately. Specifically, Ali et al investigated the morphological characterization of clay/sawdust mixture-based PCMs before and after the filtration process [57], which was reported through SEM results (Fig. 6).…”