Sidra Iftekhar

Influence of relaxation modes on membrane fouling in submerged membrane bioreactor for domestic wastewater treatment

Relaxation and backwashing have become an integral part of membrane bioreactor (MBR) operations for fouling control. This study was carried out on real municipal wastewater to evaluate the influence of different operational strategies on membrane fouling at equivalent water yield. Four relaxation modes (MBR10+0, MBR10+1, MBR10+1.5 and MBR10+2) were tested to analyze membrane fouling behavior. For the optimization of relaxation modes, fouling rate in terms of trans-membrane pressure, hydraulic resistances and characteristics of fouling fractions were analyzed. It has been observed that cake layer resistance was minimum in MBR10+1.5 but pore blockage resistance was increased in all relaxation modes. Moreover, high instantaneous flux contributed significantly to fouling rate at the initial stage of MBR operations. Relaxation modes were also efficient in removing irreversible fouling to some extent. Under all relaxation modes, COD removal efficiency ranged from 92 to 96.5%. Ammonium and TP removal were on the lower side due to the short solids and hydraulic retention time.

N- and O- ligand doped mesoporous silica-chitosan hybrid beads for the efficient, sustainable and selective recovery of rare earth elements (REE) from acid mine drainage (AMD): Understanding the significance of physical modification and conditioning of the polymer

Silica-chitosan hybrid beads were synthesized via three different methods to investigate the selective recovery of REE from AMD. The influence of amino/non-amino silanes, high molecular weight/high viscous chitosan and N-/O- based ligands were studied and their effects on REE removal efficiencies were analyzed. The adsorption efficiencies of three various groups of modified beads were inspected with respect to feed pH, in a single and a multi-component system, and their affinities towards the light and heavy rare earth elements (LREE/ HREEs) were interpreted to understand the intra-series REE separation behavior. The focus of the study was mainly directed towards utilizing these fabricated beads for the recovery of valuable REEs from the real AMD obtained at three different sampling depths which was found rich in iron, sulfur and aluminum. Moreover, the selectivity of the beads towards REEs improved with silanized and ligand immobilized gels and their impacts on REE recovery in the presence of competing ions were successfully presented in this paper. Also, the synthesized beads showed rapid REE adsorption and recovery within a process time of 5 min. Group II adsorbents, synthesized by forming silica-chitosan hybrid beads followed by PAN/acac modifications, showed superiority over the other groups of adsorbents.

Fabrication of novel metal ion imprinted xanthan gum-layered double hydroxide nanocomposite for adsorption of rare earth elements

The work focus to enhance the properties of xanthan gum (XG) by anchoring metal ions (Fe, Zr) and encapsulating inorganic matrix (M@XG-ZA). The fabricated nanocomposite was characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), surface area (BET) and zeta potential analysis. The adsorption of Sc, Nd, Tm and Yb was investigated after screening of synthesized materials in detail to understand the influence of pH, contact time, temperature and initial REE (rare earth element) concentration both in single and multicomponent system via batch adsorption. The adsorption mechanism was verified by FTIR, SEM and elemental mapping. The SEM images of Zr@XG-ZA demonstrate scutes structure, which disappeared after adsorption of REEs. The maximum adsorption capacities were 132.30, 14.01, 18.15 and 25.73 mg/g for Sc, Nd, Tm and Yb, respectively. The adsorption efficiency over Zr@XG-ZA in multicomponent system was higher than single system and the REEs followed the order: Sc > Yb > Tm > Nd. The Zr@XG-ZA demonstrate good adsorption behavior for REEs up to five cycles and then it can be used as photocatalyst for the degradation of tetracycline. Thus, the work adds a new insight to design and preparation of efficient bifunctional adsorbents from sustainable materials for water purification.

Understanding the factors affecting the adsorption of Lanthanum using different adsorbents: A critical review

Over the past few decades, removal and recovery of Lanthanum (La) have received great attention due to its significance in different industrial processes. In this review, the application of various adsorbents viz. biosorbents, commercial and hybrid materials, nanoparticles, nanocomposites etc. have been summarized in terms of the removal and recovery of La. The influence of various operating parameters including pH, dosage, contact time, temperature, coexisting ions, adsorption kinetics, isotherm and thermodynamics were investigated. Statistical analysis of the obtained data revealed that 60% and 70% of the authors reported an optimum pH of 4-6 and a dose of 1-2 g/L, respectively. It can be concluded on the basis of an extensive literature survey that the adsorbent materials (especially hybrids nanocomposites) containing carboxyl, hydroxyl and amine groups offered efficient La removal over a wide range of pH with higher adsorption capacity as compared to other adsorbents (e.g., biosorbents and magnetic adsorbents). Also, in most cases, equilibrium and kinetics were followed by Langmuir and pseudo second-order model and adsorption was endothermic in nature. To evaluate the adsorption efficiency of several adsorbents towards La, desorption and regeneration of adsorbents should be given due consideration. The main objective of the review is to provide an insight into the important factors that may affect the recovery of La using various adsorbents.

Dry and wet ozonation of denim: Degradation products, reaction mechanism, toxicity and cytotoxicity assessment

The study aims to identify the denim ozonation by-products under different operating conditions and investigate the chemical toxicity of these compounds via the inhibitory effect of the sample on the light emission of bioluminescent bacteria (Vibriofischeri) and on human health using the HepG2 human hepatoma cell line. Various by-products in treated denim extract were detected w gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The results revealed that the main oxidation by-product was isatin (1H-indole-2,3-dione), which formed in excess amounts on wet ozonated denim. It was observed that this compound showed more toxicity when high ozone concentrations were used, especially in the presence of moisture. It exhibited a considerable antibacterial activity. EC20 and EC50 average values of 5.55% and 13.47% were obtained with a wet ozonation rinse bath at 48 g/N·m3, which makes it hazardous to aquatic environments.

Insights into the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) over polythiophene/ZnIn2S4 based on different modification processing

The performance of a polythiophene-modified ZnIn2S4 hybrid photocatalyst was associated with the processing methods. We reported the influence of different modification methods (blending versus surface polymerization) on photogenerated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline. The photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline was enhanced with polythiophene modification either by blending or by surface chemical polymerization, and 51% or 54% NPOC (non-purgeable organic carbon) removal was achieved, respectively, in comparison with 36% for ZnIn2S4. Nanosized particles in the range of 10–20 nm were observed in pure ZnIn2S4 and the blended sample (PTh-ZIS) via an ethanol-thermal method, resulting in a high surface area of 188 m2 g−1 and 209 m2 g−1, respectively. The optical property of ZnIn2S4 still dominated the blended samples so that superoxide radical (˙O2−) was generated from ZnIn2S4 through electron transfer. For surface polymerization samples, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) clearly showed that ZnIn2S4 particles were covered by a thin polythiophene film, which can act as a photosensitizer promoting the generation of singlet oxygen (1O2) through energy transfer. Overall, our work revealed important processing guidelines together with ROS detection for the conductive polymer-modified photocatalyst.

Application of zinc-aluminium layered double hydroxides for adsorptive removal of phosphate and sulfate: Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic

In this study, a series of layered double hydroxide (ZxAy LDH) material was synthesized with different molar ratios and calcination temperatures to remove phosphate and sulfate ions from synthetic solution. ZxAy LDH was characterized by XRD, FTIR, BET and SEM analysis. The highest removal was obtained by Z3A200 LDH that is LDH with a Zn-Al molar ratio of 3 and calcined at 200 °C. The leaching of Zn and Al was more under highly acidic pH compared to pH 5 and 8. Adsorption isotherms data had a good fit with Langmuir model and maximum adsorption under optimum conditions led to 2.6-2.72 and 1.02-1.31 mmol/g for phosphate and sulfate, respectively. Kinetic studies have been performed by applying reaction based models and diffusion-based models, which indicated the chemisorption interaction for Z3A200 by a controlling step of the macro-pore and micro-pore diffusion for phosphate and sulfate adsorption process onto Z3A200, respectively. Thermodynamic studies showed that adsorption process onto Z3A200 was endothermic and spontaneous. Thus, phosphate and sulfate adsorption by using optimized Zn-Al LDH appears to be a promising adsorbent for their removal.