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Advances in the Synthesis and Modification of Low-Cost-Based Adsorbents for Water Treatment

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 2777

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea
Interests: adsorption; porous materials; water purification; material chemistry; nanomaterials; carbons; energies; supercapacitor
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Most of the waste produced due to industrial activity may be dumped into the environment without first being treated. This waste contaminates the freshwater supply with various toxins, including fluoride, oils, dyes, medical waste, metal ions, and other substances. The problem of rising water pollution from these pollutants is an obvious global environmental concern because of the toxicity of these contaminants when present in amounts beyond what is permissible. Due to these issues, the toxins from industrial processes must be eliminated before they enter freshwater. It is possible to eliminate a significant amount of these contaminants by using inexpensive materials. To successfully remove pollutants from aqueous solutions, it is necessary to investigate the creation of novel materials and feasible removal methods. The synthesis of low-cost-based adsorbents such as naturally available silica source materials, clays, layered hydroxide materials, biowastes, biomass, algae, etc., during the last several decades has permitted various applications, including wastewater treatment. The synthesized or modified adsorbents should be cost-effective and highly efficient. For material synthesis, the low-cost procedures that are described in the accessible research literature and the low-cost techniques that are currently being developed were used. In addition, more efficient modification of materials that can be used in procedures with low costs might be produced, which would be advantageous for water purification. As a result, there is a significant amount of continuing research into useful, cost-effective materials that may be employed as high throughput materials in wastewater treatment. The focus of the study may involve the synthesis of materials using very inexpensive processes and high removal efficiency.

This Special Issue will investigate developments regarding synthesizing and modifying low-cost adsorbents that remove contaminants and innovative techniques that balance environmental health and economic concerns. Surface modification, the properties of turned materials, removal techniques for the different treatments under investigation, high adsorption capacity and fast removal are all areas of interest. Potential topics include, but are not limited to the following: naturally available materials, clay materials, silica-based materials, surface-modifed adsorbents, high removal efficiency, synthesis and modification , adsorption process, pollutant removal, adsorption mechanism, rapid removal contaminants and selectivity-based removal.

Dr. Sriram Ganesan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • absorption
  • removal
  • low-cost adsorbents
  • high surface area
  • high porosity
  • anti-interference
  • high absorption capacity
  • high reusability
  • high selectivity
  • isotherms and kinetics

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3875 KiB  
Article
Breakthrough in High-Efficiency Photocatalytic Degradation of Acebutolol by Advanced Binary CeO2–MnO2 Oxide System
by Muthuraj Arunpandian, Tae Hwan Oh and Ganesan Sriram
Molecules 2024, 29(12), 2854; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29122854 - 15 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 746
Abstract
The sustainable catalytic efficacy of transition metal oxides (TMO) and rare earth element-based oxides positions them as pivotal materials for effectively treating contaminated wastewater. This study successfully synthesized a series of Ce@MnO2 photocatalysts using a straightforward hydrothermal method. These photocatalysts were thoroughly [...] Read more.
The sustainable catalytic efficacy of transition metal oxides (TMO) and rare earth element-based oxides positions them as pivotal materials for effectively treating contaminated wastewater. This study successfully synthesized a series of Ce@MnO2 photocatalysts using a straightforward hydrothermal method. These photocatalysts were thoroughly characterized for their optical properties, structural morphology, and phase purity. Among the synthesized materials, the Ce@MnO2 (40:60) exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Acebutolol (ACB), achieving a remarkable degradation efficiency of 92.71% within 90 min under visible light irradiation. This superior performance is attributed to the increased presence of active species and the efficient separation of photogenerated carriers. Additionally, the photocatalytic reaction mechanism was elucidated, highlighting the catalyst’s surface charge properties which significantly enhanced performance in a solution with pH 8. The outstanding photo-response in the visible spectrum renders this method not only cost-effective but also environmentally benign, presenting a promising approach for large-scale water purification. Full article
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22 pages, 5892 KiB  
Article
Phosphogypsum-Modified Vinasse Shell Biochar as a Novel Low-Cost Material for High-Efficiency Fluoride Removal
by Zheng Liu, Jingmei Zhang and Rongmei Mou
Molecules 2023, 28(22), 7617; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28227617 - 16 Nov 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1438
Abstract
In this study, vinasse shell biochar (VS) was easily modified with phosphogypsum to produce a low-cost and novel adsorbent (MVS) with excellent fluoride adsorption performance. The physicochemical features of the fabricated materials were studied in detail using SEM, EDS, BET, XRD, FTIR, and [...] Read more.
In this study, vinasse shell biochar (VS) was easily modified with phosphogypsum to produce a low-cost and novel adsorbent (MVS) with excellent fluoride adsorption performance. The physicochemical features of the fabricated materials were studied in detail using SEM, EDS, BET, XRD, FTIR, and XPS techniques. The adsorption experiments demonstrated that the adsorption capacity of fluoride by MVS was greatly enhanced compared with VS, and the adsorption capacity increased with the pyrolysis temperature, dosage, and contact time. In comparison to chloride and nitrate ions, sulfate ions significantly affected adsorption capacity. The fluoride adsorption capacity increased first and then decreased with increasing pH in the range of 3–12. The fluoride adsorption could be perfectly fitted to the pseudo-second-order model. Adsorption isotherms matched Freundlich and Sips isotherm models well, giving 290.9 mg/g as the maximum adsorption capacity. Additionally, a thermodynamic analysis was indicative of spontaneous and endothermic processes. Based on characterization and experiment results, the plausible mechanism of fluoride adsorption onto MVS was proposed, mainly including electrostatic interactions, ion exchange, precipitation, and hydrogen bonds. This study showed that MVS could be used for the highly efficient removal of fluoride and was compatible with practical applications. Full article
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