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Separations
Special Issues
Separation and Recovery of Valuable Elements from Waste and Wastewater
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Separation and Recovery of Valuable Elements from Waste and Wastewater

A special issue of Separations (ISSN 2297-8739). This special issue belongs to the section "Purification Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 July 2024 | Viewed by 5073

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Artin Hatzikioseyian

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, Laboratory of Environmental Science and Engineering, Heroon Polytechniou 9, 15780 Zografou, Greece
Interests: environmental biotechnology; environmental process modelling; metal–microbe interactions
Dr. Pavlina Kousi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, Laboratory of Environmental Science and Engineering, Heroon Polytechniou 9, 15780 Zografou, Greece
Interests: metal–microbe interactions; biogenic nanoparticle production; sulphate reduction by sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In principle, in the context of the circular economy, the value of resources should be retained while minimising waste. This is a promising approach for sustainable development that has piqued the interest of scientists and policymakers in terms of recovering, reusing and recycling resources. Technologies for separation and purification are critical in the transition to a circular economy. Furthermore, the European Union has adopted policies that move in this direction through the Green Deal Directive.

This Special Issue on “Separation and Recovery of Valuable Elements from Waste and Wastewater” invites submissions of original research papers, review papers, and short communications addressing recent trends, novel developments, and new methods and applications in the separation and recovery of valuable elements from wastes (e.g., metallurgical tailings, red mud, slags, sludges, photovoltaic panels, spent catalytic converters, batteries, end-of-life products, etc.) and wastewater streams (e.g., industrial effluents, acid mine drainage, etc.). Examples of elements of interest include critical raw materials, base and precious metals, platinum group metals (PGMs), and rare-earth elements (REEs). Alternative separation techniques, such as hydrometallurgy, biohydrometallurgy, bioseparations (biosorption, bioprecipitation), adsorption, absorption, ion exchange, flocculation, filtration, extraction, membrane processes, precipitation, and electrochemical techniques are welcome in this Special Issue. We anticipate that this collection of papers will be of interest to scholars working in the field of circular economy.

Dr. Artin Hatzikioseyian
Dr. Pavlina Kousi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Separations is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • separation
  • valuable elements
  • resources recovery
  • metal recovery
  • precious metals
  • critical elements
  • solid wastes
  • end-of-life products
  • valorisation
  • circular economy

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3439 KiB  
Article
Immobilisation of Molybdenum in a Sulphate-Reducing Bioreactor
by Pavlina Kousi, Dimitra-Artemis Strongyli, Petros E. Tsakiridis, Artin Hatzikioseyian and Emmanouella Remoundaki
Separations 2024, 11(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations11010009 - 25 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1225
Abstract
This work presents a biological remediation process for molybdenum-bearing wastewater which may lead to the fabrication of biogenic Mo chalcogenide particles with (photo)catalytic properties. The process is based on dissimilatory sulphate reduction, utilising sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB), and reductive precipitation of molybdate which is [...] Read more.
This work presents a biological remediation process for molybdenum-bearing wastewater which may lead to the fabrication of biogenic Mo chalcogenide particles with (photo)catalytic properties. The process is based on dissimilatory sulphate reduction, utilising sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB), and reductive precipitation of molybdate which is the predominant species of molybdenum in oxygenated water/wastewater. The SRB culture was established in a biofilm reactor which was fed with synthetic solutions containing sulphate (17.7 mM), molybdate molybdenum (2 mM), divalent iron (1.7 mM) and ethanol as the carbon/electron donor. The performance of the bioreactor was monitored in terms of pH, sulphate and molybdenum (Mo(VI) and total) content. The presence of thiomolybdate species was studied by scanning UV-Vis absorbance of samples from the reactor outflow while the reactor precipitates were studied via electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectrometry, X-ray diffractometry and laser light scattering. A molar molybdate/sulphate ratio of 1:12.5 proved effective for molybdate reduction and recovery by 76% in 96 h, whereas sulphate was reduced by 57%. Molybdenum was immobilised in the sulphidic precipitates of the bioreactor, presumably via two principal mechanisms: (i) microbially mediated reduction and precipitation, and (ii) thiomolybdate formation and sorption/incorporation into iron sulphides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Separation and Recovery of Valuable Elements from Waste and Wastewater)
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16 pages, 1611 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Efficiency of Ion Exchange Resins for the Recovery of Scandium from Sulfuric Acid Leaching Solutions
by Aikaterini Toli, Eleni Mikeli, Danai Marinos, Efthymios Balomenos and Dimitrios Panias
Separations 2023, 10(7), 366; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10070366 - 21 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1325
Abstract
Scandium, a valuable element with restricted production sources mainly situated in China and Russia, is typically obtained as a by-product during the production of various materials. As the demand for scandium grows in the expanding aluminum and fuel cell industries, and with significant [...] Read more.
Scandium, a valuable element with restricted production sources mainly situated in China and Russia, is typically obtained as a by-product during the production of various materials. As the demand for scandium grows in the expanding aluminum and fuel cell industries, and with significant investments in rare earth mining in the USA and Australia, there is a need to explore alternative recovery sources. This research investigates the recovery of scandium from an acid pregnant leaching solution using ion exchange resins. The pregnant leaching solution was obtained after the leaching of bauxite residue with sulfuric acid. Commercial resins with different functional groups were tested for their performance in scandium extraction. In addition, the co-adsorption of impurities, such as iron and titanium, was studied. The feed solution consisted of 12.7 mg/L Sc and main impurities of 272 mg/L Fe and 33.6 mg/L Ti and was pretreated before the ion exchange process by acidification with sulfuric acid and iron powder addition to suppress silica gel formation and minimize the Fe(III) content in the solution accordingly. Among the tested resins, a D2EHPA-impregnated resin had high selectivity for Sc towards Ti, while a monophosphonic resin was also a promising option since it had a higher capacity for Sc but co-extracted Ti. These findings offer promising opportunities for the recovery of scandium from acid leaching solutions and could contribute to addressing the growing demand for this valuable element. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Separation and Recovery of Valuable Elements from Waste and Wastewater)
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15 pages, 5036 KiB  
Article
High-Value Recovery of the Iron via Solvent Extraction from Waste Nickel-Cadmium Battery Sulfuric Acid Leachate Using Saponified D2EHPA
by Lei Zhou, Yongqing Zhang, Lijin Zhang, Xuefeng Wu, Ran Jiang and Lu Wang
Separations 2023, 10(4), 251; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10040251 - 12 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2012
Abstract
A significant amount of iron from the waste nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) battery sulfuric acid leachate seriously hinders the separation and recovery of nickel and cadmium. Therefore, an efficient and economical way to remove iron from this leachate is desired. This paper demonstrated the efficient [...] Read more.
A significant amount of iron from the waste nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) battery sulfuric acid leachate seriously hinders the separation and recovery of nickel and cadmium. Therefore, an efficient and economical way to remove iron from this leachate is desired. This paper demonstrated the efficient iron extraction from a simulated Ni-Cd battery sulfuric acid leachate with saponified Di (2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA). The iron-loaded D2EHPA was then stripped with oxalic acid and the iron was recovered in the form of iron oxalate. This process realizes the efficient separation and high-value recovery of iron. The results showed that the saponification of the D2EHPA greatly promoted the extraction of iron from the Ni-Cd battery sulfuric acid leachate. Under suitable conditions, the iron’s single-stage extraction rate was more than 95%, and the iron’s single-stage stripping rate was more than 85%. Moreover, the iron’s extraction rate was more than 99% after two theoretical extraction stages, and the stripping rate was 95.6% after two theoretical stripping stages. The slope analysis determines that five molecules of D2EHPA were combined with one molecule of Fe3+ in the extraction process. The FT-IR analysis shows that the extraction mechanism of Fe3+ using the saponified D2EHPA is a cation exchange. These results can help guide the industrial separation and recovery of iron from the waste Ni-Cd battery sulfuric acid leachate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Separation and Recovery of Valuable Elements from Waste and Wastewater)
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