Hassan H.H. Hefni

Metal adsorption by agricultural biosorbents: Adsorption isotherm, kinetic and biosorbents chemical structures

Biosorption of Cu(II), Co(II) and Fe(III) ions from aqueous solutions by rice husk, palm leaf and water hyacinth was investigated as a function of initial pH, initial heavy metal ions concentration and treatment time. The adsorption process was examined by two adsorption isotherms: Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The experimental data of biosorption process were analyzed using pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order kinetic models. The equilibrium biosorption isotherms showed that the three studied biosorbents possess high affinity and sorption capacity for Cu(II), Co(II) and Fe(III) ions. Rice husk showed more efficiency than palm leaf and water hyacinth. Adsorption of Cu(II) and Co(II) was more efficient in alkaline medium (pH 9) than neutral medium due to the high solubility of metal ion complexes. The metal removal efficiency of each biosorbent was correlated to its chemical structure. DTA studies showed formation of metal complex between the biosorbents and the metal ions. The obtained results showed that the tested biosorbents are efficient and alternate low-cost biosorbent for removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous media.

Adsorption of aluminum and lead from wastewater by chitosan-tannic acid modified biopolymers: Isotherms, kinetics, thermodynamics and process mechanism

Chitosan was reacted by tannic acid to obtain three modified chitosan biopolymer. Their chemical structures were characterized by FTIR and elemental analysis. The prepared biopolymers were used to adsorb Al(III) and Pb(II) metal ions from industrial wastewater. The factors affecting the adsorption process were biosorbent amount, initial concentration of metal ion and pH of the medium. The adsorption efficiency increased considerably with the increase of the biosorbent amount and pH of the medium. The adsorption process of biosorbent on different metal ions was fitted by Freundlich adsorption model. The adsorption kinetics was followed Pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The adsorption process occurred according to diffusion mechanism which was confirmed by the interparticle diffusion model. The modified biopolymers were efficient biosorbents for removal of Pb(II) and Al(III) metal ions from the medium.

Synthesis, characterization and anticorrosion potentials of chitosan-g-PEG assembled on silver nanoparticles

Chitosan (Ch) grafted with poly(ethylene glycol) (Ch-g-mPEG) were synthesized using mPEG with molecular weights 2000 g/mol. The synthesized Ch-g-mPEG was characterized using gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Ch-g-mPEG silver nanoparticles has been synthesized and characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX). The synthesized Ch-g-mPEG and its nanostructure were examined as corrosion inhibitors for carbon steel in 1M HCl solution using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The results revealed that the inhibition efficiency obtained by Ch-g-mPEG self-assembled on silver nanoparticles is greater than that obtained by Ch-g-mPEG only. Potentiodynamic polarization results reveal that the synthesized compound could be classified as mixed-type corrosion inhibitors with predominant control of the cathodic reaction. The results of EIS indicate that the both charge transfer resistance and inhibition efficiency tend to increase by increasing the inhibitor concentration.

Preparation of some chitosan heavy metal complexes and study of its properties

The chitosan was prepared and mixed with some metal salts (FeCl3, Co(OAc)2 and NiCl2) by different concentrations to form chitosan-metal complexes. The metal ions which strongly complexed to the amino groups of chitosan like Fe showed a smooth surface product, amorphous phase, thermally more stable and high electrical conductivity than other complexes, while the Co ions which the weakly complexed with chitosan showed a rough surface product, crystalline phase, thermally less stable and low electrical conductivity. The chitosan-metal complexes have a higher electrical conductivity than chitosan pure at room temperature.

Remediation of distilleries wastewater using chitosan immobilized Bentonite and Bentonite based organoclays

Organic-inorganic nanocomposite, namely chitosan immobilized Bentonite (CIB) with chitosan content of 5% was synthesized in an acetic acid solution (2%). Organically modified CIB and Bentonite (mbent.) were prepared by intercalating cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a cationic surfactant at doses equivalent to 1.5 and 3 times the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of clay. The prepared samples were characterized using FTIR, XRD and SEM to explore the interlayer structure and morphology of the resultant nanocomposites. The remediation of distilleries (vinasse) wastewater process was carried out using different adsorbents including CIB, modified CIB (mCIB), Bentonite (bent.), modified Bentonite (mbent.) and chitosan at different contact time. The results showed that the packing density of surfactant used in the synthesis of organoclays strongly affects the sorption capacity of the clay mineral and also showed that (mCIB)3 was found to be the most effective sorbent in the purification of distilleries wastewater with 83% chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and 78% color removal.

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of polysaccharide alginate derived cationic surfactant–metal(II) complexes

New natural polysaccharide carbohydrate derivatives of sodium alginate surfactant and its cobalt, copper and zinc complexes were synthesized. Structures of the synthesized compounds are reported using FTIR, (1)H NMR and UV-vis. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) value of the alginate surfactant and its metal complexes in aqueous solution was found out from surface tension measurements. Surface tension data at different temperatures served for the evaluation of the temperature-dependent CMC and the thermodynamics of micellization (ΔGmic, ΔHmic, ΔSmic) and adsorption (ΔGads, ΔGads, ΔSads). The surface activities of the synthesized polymeric surfactant and its metal complexes were influenced by their chemical structures and the type of the transition metals. These compounds were evaluated against Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus), Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and fungi (Candida albicans and Asperigllus niger). The antibacterial and antifungal screening tests of the alginate surfactant metal complexes have shown good results compared to its precursor alginate surfactant.

Esterification of chitosan with L-alanine and a study on their effect in removing the heavy metals and total organic carbon (TOC) from wastewater

Abstract In this work, chitosan was modified by the esterification with L-alanine in the presence of H2SO4 as a catalyst to increase the number of amino groups with the aim of increasing the adsorption efficiency. Chitosan (CS) and chitosan-O-alanine (CS-Aln) were characterized and investigated by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results obtained from elemental analysis and IR indicated the presence of sulfuric acid after neutralization as a crosslinker between CS-Aln chains. Also CS-Aln is more amorphous than CS due to the ionic bonds of crosslinker. The removal of three heavy metals (Mn2+, Pb2+ and Al3+) and total organic carbon (TOC) from wastewater by CS and CS-Aln in the batch mode has been studied at different adsorbent dosages, temperatures and contact times. The maximum metal ions removal efficiency using CS achieved 99.6%, 99.1% and 98.9%, respectively, while by using CS-Aln 95.3%, 99.3% and 98.9% were achieved. However, the maximum adsorption capacity of TOC by CS achieved 50 mg/g and 89 mg/g by CS-Aln. The total maximum adsorption capacity of CS-Aln is higher than CS.