Simultaneous removal of dyes and metal cations using an acid, acid-base and base modified vermiculite as a sustainable and recyclable adsorbent

Stawiński, Wojciech; Węgrzyn, Agnieszka; Freitas, Olga; Chmielarz, Lucjan; Mordarski, Grzegorz; Figueiredo, Sónia

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/9494

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Abstract(s)

The aimof thiswork was the modification of vermiculite in order to produce a lowcost, efficient and sustainable adsorbent for dyes and metals. Three activation methods consisting of acid, base and combined acid/base treatment were applied to improve the of vermiculite's adsorption properties. Adsorbents were tested in single, biand tricomponent solutions containing cationic dyes and Cu2+ cations. The rawmaterial showed lowadsorption capacity for dyes and metal. The acid/base treated vermiculite had very good adsorption capacity toward dyes while the maximumadsorption capacity for Cu2+ did not change comparing to the startingmaterial. The alkaline treated vermiculite was a good adsorbent for metals,while still being able to remove dyes on the level of the not treated material. Moreover, it was shown that the materials may be regenerated and used in several adsorptiondesorption cycles. Furthermore, itwas possible to separate adsorbed dyes from metals thatwere desorbed, using as eluents ethanol/NaCl and 0.05MHNO3, respectively. This opens a possibility for sustainable disposal and neutralization of both of the pollutants or for their further applications in other processes.