Removal of mixture of ZnO and CuO nanoparticles (NPs) from water using activated carbon in batch kinetic studies

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the effects of pH (5, 6, 7, 8, 9) and activated carbon (AC) concentration (0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 g/L) on the removal of a colloidal solution of nanoparticles (NPs) (ZnO + CuO) using AC in batch kinetic studies. Results revealed that adsorption capacities of AC for Zn and Cu (individually) were 0.9 ± 0.028 mg/g (91.3% removal) and 0.95 ± 0.036 mg/g (95.6% removal) in deionized water and 0.6 ± 0.038 mg/g (78% removal) and 0.75 ± 0.078 mg/g (83% removal) in wastewater at pH 8 (Zn) and pH 6 (Cu) respectively. In a colloidal solution mixture of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) and copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs), adsorption capacity of AC for Zn in deionized water was 0.71 ± 0.051 mg/g (74.7% removal) and in wastewater was 0.576 ± 0.019 mg/g (69% removal) and for Cu in deionized water was 0.82 ± 0.017 mg/g (81.2% removal) and in wastewater was 0.6 ± 0.032 mg/g (71.5% removal). Overall, this study provided a detailed analysis of the removal capacity of AC and indicated that AC can be used as an efficient adsorbent filter for removing engineered NPs like ZnONPs and CuONPs (single and mixture) from water. As there is a need for removing NPs from wastewater, removal of NPs using an AC-based adsorptive-filter might become a promising method.

Removal of SO2 from Flue Gas on a Copper-Modified Activated Coke Prepared by a Novel One-Step Carbonization Activation Blending Method

“…FT-IR was performed to investigate the function groups in AC-Cu, as shown in Figure . The broad absorption peak at approximately 3440 cm –1 was assigned to OH in the alcohol, carboxyl, and hydroxyl groups, or chemisorbed water. , The peak at approximately 1630 cm –1 was attributed to the CO stretching vibration, such as in quinones and lactones . The peak at 1080 cm –1 (on AC) corresponded to the CO stretching in esters, phenols, and carboxylic acids. , It was interesting to observe that the peak at 1080 cm –1 (AC) shifted to a high wavenumber (around 1090–1130 cm –1 ) in the AC-Cu samples, possibly due to the CO association the with copper species after CuO addition.…”

“…The broad absorption peak at approximately 3440 cm −1 was assigned to OH in the alcohol, carboxyl, and hydroxyl groups, or chemisorbed water. 31,32 The peak at approximately 1630 cm −1 was attributed to the CO stretching vibration, such as in quinones and lactones. 33 The peak at 1080 cm −1 (on AC) corresponded to the CO stretching in esters, phenols, and carboxylic acids.…”

Occurrence and removal of engineered nanoparticles in drinking water treatment and wastewater treatment processes: A review

“…Piplai et al [57] investigated the impact of pH values of 5-9 and activated carbon concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 g/L on the removal efficiency of colloidal NPs (ZnO and CuO) from their solutions in batch kinetic experiments. Results indicated that at pH values of 8 (ZnO) and 6 (CuO), the adsorption potentials of activated carbon for ZnO-NPs and CuO-NPs (removal efficiency of NPs using activated carbon) were 0.9 (91.3%) and 0.95 (95.6%) mg/g in deionized water, respectively, and 0.6 (78%) and 0.75 (83%) mg/g in wastewater, respectively.…”

“…The removal of ZnO-NPs and CuO-NPs from a colloidal solution via sedimentation/settlement was also investigated (removal rate of < 5% for both NPs) [57]. In both single and blended solutions, the overall adsorption potential of ZnO-NPs and CuO-NPs using activated carbon was examined.…”

Fibrous adsorbent derived from sulfonation of cotton waste: application for removal of cadmium sulfide nanoparticles from aquatic media

“…Several methods such as phytoremediation, coagulation and flocculation, membrane filtration, and adsorption have been assessed to find suitable methods for removing metal-containing NPs from water and wastewater [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Because of the drawbacks of other methods including fouling in membrane filtration and high volume of sludge in coagulation and flocculation process, the adsorption process has been reported as the most efficient and economical method [27].…”