Zijie Ren

The adsorption and mass-transfer process of cationic red X-GRL dye on natural zeolite

The adsorption behavior of natural zeolite was studied in order to determine the adsorption capacity and mass-transfer process of cationic red X-GRL (C(18)H(21)BrN(6)) onto the adsorbent. The adsorption tests to determine both the uptake capacity and the mass-transfer process at equilibrium were performed under batch conditions, which showed rapid uptake in general for the initial 5 min, corresponding to 92% total removal. The equilibrium adsorption capacity value (q(e,cal)) in pseudo-second-order kinetics was 13.51 mg/g at 293 K and the whole adsorption process was governed by physical adsorption with an endothermic, endothermic spontaneous nature. Adsorption tests indicated that the zeolite has great potential as an alternative low-cost material in the treatment of X-GRL drainage. However, the mass-transfer process to determine the rate-controlling steps showed that both film diffusion and pore diffusion were important in controlling the adsorption rate. The adsorption process was governed by film diffusion while pore diffusion was poor because the X-GRL molecules could not penetrate into the zeolite easily. The X-GRL molecules were only adsorbed on the external surface of the zeolite. Hence, to improve the adsorption capacity of natural zeolite further, modification to expand its micropores is necessary.

Characteristics of cationic Red X-GRL adsorption by diatomite tailings

As secondary mineral resources, diatomite tailings (DT) got from the Linjiang region of China were prepared and characterized by SEM, XRF and XRD. Mono-factor experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of the operation factor, including contact time, adsorbent concentration, initial pH value of the dye solutions, adsorption temperature and initial concentration of cationic Red X-GRL (X-GRL) on the adsorption of X-GRL. The adsorption kinetics, isotherms, thermodynamics and mechanisms for X-GRL were also studied. It was efficient for DT to adsorb X-GRL from aqueous solutions, and it was even discovered to have higher adsorptivity for X-GRL than diatomite concentrate (DC) in our previous test. The adsorption processes fit very well with the pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir isotherm equation. In addition, various thermodynamic parameters, such as standard Gibbs free energy (ΔG°), standard enthalpy (ΔH°) and standard entropy (ΔS°) have been calculated. From thermodynamic studies, it was seen that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic. The main driving forces of the physical adsorption on DT are electrostatic attraction. The reason why DT showed higher adsorptivity for X-GRL than DC was that there were more clay mineral particles within, which has a remarkable ability of dye adsorption due to its high surface area. DT as a cheap absorbent for X-GRL removal would replace or partially replace the activated carbon.