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Showing 25 results for Nanoparticle

Ehsan Olyaie, Hossein Banejad, Ali Reza Rahmani, Abbas Afkhami, Javad Khodaveisi,
Volume 5, Issue 3 (10-2012)
Abstract

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background and Objectives: Arsenic is one of the most toxically contaminants in groundwater and soils. Due to the ability of bio-accumulation of arsenic III in plants through irrigation with contaminated water and its entrance to the food chain, irreparable hazards would be caused. The aim of this research is the feasibility study of arsenic III removal from polluted water using calcium peroxide nanoparticles synthesized and also studying the effective parameters. Moreover, the adding effect of nanoparticles on the important parameters of irrigation would be assessed.
Materials and Methods: In this research, we first synthesized CaO2 nanoparticles through chemical precipitation and then studied the arsenic removal efficiency from contaminated water samples. Nevertheless, the impact of the effective parameters including pH, initial arsenic III concentration, and CaO2 nanoparticles concentration were investigated. Finally, relevant results to nanoparticles effect on the important irrigation water quality parameters were presented.
Results: Our results showed that synthesized particles were in the range of 25-50 nanometers. In addition, the efficiency of the CaO2 nanoparticles in arsenic III removal was 88 percent under following conditions:  irrigation pH range 6.5-8.5, nanoparticles dosage 40 mg/L, arsenic initial concentration 400 µg/L, and 30 minuts retention time. Moreover, the nanoparticles synthesized did not have any undesirable impact on significant parameters in irrigation water.
Conclusion: Generally, it can be concluded that CaO2 nanoparticles based on the in situ chemical oxidation had significant effect on the reduction of arsenic III until lower than recommended standards for irrigation water. High rate of process and relatively short reaction time, and having no negative effects on the significant parameters of irrigation indicate that CaO2 nanoparticles have significant potential in removal of arsenic III from contaminated water.


Hafez Golstanifar, Simin Nasseri, Amir Hossin Mahvi, Mohamad Hadi Dehghani, Anvar Asadi ,
Volume 5, Issue 4 (2-2013)
Abstract

Background and Objectives: The contamination of nitrate (NO3−) in groundwater resources causes two adverse health effects: induction of “blue-baby syndrome” (methemoglobinemia), especially in infants, and the potential formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines. The aim of this research is to investigate nitrate removal from groundwater using alumina nanoparticles and to determine the adsorption isotherms. Materials and Methods: This analytical-descriptive study was carried out at lab-scale, under batch conditions, and at room-temperature. The structure of alumina nanoparticles was determined using XRD, SEM, and TEM techniques. The concentration of nitrate in the solutions was determined by spectrophotometer at wavelengths of 220 and 275 nm. In addition, we investigated the impact of the important operational parameters including initial dose of Al2O3 (0.06-0.25 g/l), initial concentration of the solution (50- 300 mg/l), contact time (5-60 min), and pH (3-9). Moreover, we used Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models to calculate equilibrium constant. Results: It was found that nitrate removal efficiency increased as we increased contact time, initial concentration and pH in batch system. A maximum of 60% nitrate removal was achieved under following conditions: 60 min contact time, pH 5, and initial nitrate concentration of 300 mg/l as N. The obtained results showed that the adsorption of nitrate by Nano-Gamma-Alumina follows Langmuir isotherm equation with a correlation coefficient equal to 0.982. Conclusion: Overall, our findings showed that the alumina nanoparticles can be used as an effective adsorbent to remove NO3 from aqueous solutions.
Somayeh Alijani, Mohammad Vaez, Abdolsamad Zaringhalam Moghadam,
Volume 6, Issue 2 (9-2013)
Abstract

Background and Objectives: The development a low-cost and high efficiency water treatment technology to decolorize the organic dye effluents is desirable due to overwhelming discharge of organic synthetic dyes into the natural water cycle during the dying process. In this study, the decolorization of Acid Black 26, as the model organic contaminant, was investigated using immobilized nano-sized TiO2 particles as the photocatalyst. Material and Methods: Sackcloth fiber was used as a support to immobilize TiO2 nanoparticles. The structural properties of the immobilized photocatalysts were characterized by XRD and SEM. UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and the measurement of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) were also used for the process performance studies. Moreover, we investigated the effects of the oxidant H2O2, initial dye concentration, the presence of anion and pH on the photocatalytic degradation efficiency. Results: The XRD results did not show significant changes in the structure of TiO2 as a consequence of the immobilization procedure. The formation of titania crystallites in the sackcloth fiber was confirmed by SEM. Experimental results showed that after 60 min, the degradation percentage of Acid Black 26 with the immobilized TiO2 particles was about 60%, which was higher than that with TiO2 slurry. Based on the COD results, after 3 h, the TiO2-coated sackcloth fiber effectively decomposed 94% of the organic compounds presenting in dye solution during the degradation of Acid Black 26. Conclusion: The titania nanoparticles immobilized on the sackcloth fiber can be used as an effective and environmental friendly photocatalyst in the degradation of colored wastewater.


Mehdi Bahrami, Saeeid Brumand-Nasab, Heydar-Ali Kashkooli, Ahmad Farrokhian Firouzi, Ali-Akbar Babaei,
Volume 6, Issue 2 (9-2013)
Abstract

Background and Objectives: Among the heavy metals cadmium is of considerable environmental and health significance because of its increasing mobilization and human toxicity. The objectives of this research were to synthesize SDS modified magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4) and to determine its efficiency in cadmium removal from aqueous solutions. Materials and Methods: Modified magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized and the effects of pH and contact time on cadmium removal efficiency were investigated in batch system. Then kinetics and isotherm models coefficients were determined in the optimum pH and equilibrium time conditions. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infra red (FTIR) were used to characterize the modified magnetite nanoparticles synthesized. Results: The SEM results showed that the diameter of the particles is 40-60 nm. It was found that the optimum pH value for maximum adsorption of 10 mg/L cadmium by 0.1 g adsorbent in 12 hr was 6. Kinetic study showed that the equilibrium time was 30 min. The adsorption kinetics fitted well using the Ho pseudo second-order kinetic model however, the adsorption isotherm could be described by the Freundlich model. The maximum adsorption capacity of modified magnetite nanoparticles for Cd2+ was found to be 9.604 mg/g. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the modified magnetite nanoparticles can be employed as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of cadmium from contaminated water sources
Bijan Bina, Mohamadmahdi Amin, Mohamadreza Zare, Ali Fatehizadeh, Mohsen Mohseni, Mahdi Zare, Ali Toulabi,
Volume 6, Issue 2 (9-2013)
Abstract

Background and Objectives: Toxicity assessment of material related to nanotechnology is necessary before excess development of this industry. On the other hand, specific characteristic of nanomaterials can be used in disinfection of other material. In this study toxicity and antibacterial properties of nano-TiO2 and nano-CuO were investigated with four bacterial species in solid media.

Material and Methods: Stock suspension of nanoparticles (10g-TSS/L) was diluted using Muller Hinton Agar to achieve 5-6000mg-TSS/L concentration. We prepared three Petri dishes for each concentration and refined bacteria were cultured on these Petri dishes. After culturing of these bacteria on the media containing nanoparticles, growth inhibition was determined. According to this data, 50% growth inhibition (EC50), no observed effect concentration (NOEC) and 100% growth inhibition were determined.

Results: Our results showed that toxicity of TiO2 is more than CuO in solid media. In this regard, nano-TiO2 EC50 for Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was calculated 181, 571, 93 and 933mg-TSS/L respectively. These figures for nano-TiO2 were 2550, 1609, 946, and 1231mg-TSS/L respectively.

Conclusion: This study showed that compared with other bacteria studied, E. aureus due to high sensitivity and E. coli due to high resistance to both TiO2 and CuO nanoparticles are more proper as bioindicator in toxicity test and antibacterial test respectively.


B Kakavandi, R Rezaei Kalantary, A Jonidi Jafari, A Esrafily, A Gholizadeh, A Azari,
Volume 7, Issue 1 (7-2014)
Abstract

Background and Objective: Extreme use of antibiotics and discharging them to the environment lead to serious consequences. Activated carbon is the most commonly adsorbent for these contaminants but its main drawback is difficulty of its separation. The objective of this study was synthesis of magnetic activated carbon by Fe3O4 and investigating its efficiency in adsorption of amoxicillin from synthetic wastewater. Materials and Methods: Materials and Methods: Physical and structural characteristics of the adsorbent synthesized were analyzed using SEM, TEM, XRD and BET techniques. The effect of factors like pH, initial concentration of amoxicillin and adsorbent, contact time, and temperature were investigated to determine thermodynamic parameters, equilibrium isotherms, and kinetics of adsorption process. Results: Physical characteristics of the magnetized activated carbon showed that Fe3O4 nanoparticles had the average size of 30-80 nm and BET surface area was 571 m2/g. The optimum conditions of adsorption were: pH=5, contact time=90min, adsorbent dose of 1g/L and temperature 200C. The equilibrium isotherms data showed that the adsorption process fitted both Freundlich and Longmuir models with the maximum capacity of 136.98 mg/g. The kinetic of the adsorption process followed pseudo second-order model. The negative values of &DeltaH0 and &DeltaG0 obtained from studying the adsorption thermodynamic suggested that amoxicillin adsorption on magnetic activated carbon was exothermic and spontaneous. Conclusion: The present study showed that the magnetic activated carbon has high potential for adsorption of amoxicillin, in addition to features like simple and rapid separation. Therefore, it can be used for adsorption and separation of such pollutants from aqueous solutions.


Leila Karimi Takanlu, Mahdi Farzadkia, Amir Hossein Mahvi, Ali Esrafily, Masoumeh Golshan,
Volume 7, Issue 2 (10-2014)
Abstract

Background and Objectives: Cadmium can enter water resources through the industrial wastewater. It could cause intensivly damages to the liver and kidney of humans. Magnetic iron nanoparticles are used to control and eliminate heavy metals from industrial effluents through the mechanisms of adsorption, ion exchange and electrostatic forces. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of magnetic nanoparticles for adsorption of cadmium. Methods: The magnetite nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method through the addition of bivalent and trivalent iron chloride under alkaline conditions. Characteristics of nanoparticles including particles structure, composition and size were determined using analytical devices such as XRD, SEM, and FT-IR. For optimization of adsorption process of cadmium, some parameters such as pH, contact time, initial concentration of cadmium, nanoparticles concentration, and temperature were studied under different conditions. Results: It was found that 95% of cadmium could be removedAt pH &ge 5.6, 10 mg/L initial cadmium concentration, a dose of 1 mg synthesized magnetite nanoparticles, 10 minutes contact time, and 200 rpm mixing rate at 25 °C. The isotherm of adsorption follows the Langmuir model (R2 < 0.995). Maximum capacity of cadmium adsorption was found to be 20.41 mg/g. Conclusion: Magnetite nanoparticles exhibit high capability for removal of cadmium. The nanoparticles synthesized could be used at industrial scale because of having the magnetic property, which make them easily recovered from aqueous solution through applying a magnetic field.


E. Karimi Pasandideh, R. Rezaei Kalantary, S. Nasseri, A. H. Mahvi, R. Nabizadeh, A. Esrafili,
Volume 7, Issue 3 (5-2014)
Abstract

Background and Objective: The presence of natural organic materials (NOM) in water resources affects its quality (i.e. color, odor, and taste). In addition, it leads to the fouling of filters and membranes and reduces water treatment efficiency during flocculation/ coagulation. Moreover, NOM reacts with disinfectants and produces byproducts (DBPs), which are harmful to human health. Magnetic nanoparticles have been reported as effective adsorbents for the removal of pollutants from the aqueous media. In this study, we applied SiO2coating on these nanoparticles in order to enhance their stability and dispersion in aqueous media and investigated their capability in NOM adsorption from water. Materials and Methods: Iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation. Then, we added Tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) to the solution in order to coat it with SiO2 . The adsorbent characteristics were determined by SEM and XRD. Then, we carried out the adsorption experiments under different pH(3-12) and contact time (5-240 min)performance conditions. The adsorption kinetic was determined with respect to different Humic acid adsorption times. Later, we determined the effect of different concentrations of adsorbent on different concentrations of Humic acid, and Langmuir and Freundlich coefficients based on the optimum conditions. Results: The morphology investigation of adsorbent showed the average size of Fe3O4/SiO2nanoparticles was 30-130 nm. The pH value of 10.5 and the contact time of 90 min at room temperature were determined as optimum conditions for removal of humic acid using Fe3O4/SiO2 nanoparticles. The maximum adsorption capacity of Fe3O4/SiO2 was192.30. The adsorption isotherm was fitted well by Langmuir model (R2>0.90) and the pseudo-second order model (R2>0.98) could better explain humic acid adsorption. Conclusion: Having high number of active surface sites, magnetic properties, easily separation using magnetic field, and its cost-effectiveness, the Fe3O4/SiO2 nanoparticles could be used as an efficient adsorbent in removal of humic acid from water.


K Yaghmaeian, N Jaafarzadeh, R Nabizadeh, H Rasoulzadeh, B Akbarpour,
Volume 8, Issue 4 (3-2016)
Abstract

Background and Objective: Arsenic is one of the most toxic pollutants in groundwater and surface water. Arsenic could have lots of adverse impacts on human health. Therefore, access to new technologies is required to achieve the arsenic standard.

Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted at laboratory scale in non-continuous batches. The adsorbent of zero-valent iron nanoparticles -Chitosan was produced through reducing ferric iron by sodium borohydride (NaBH4) in the presence of chitosan as a stabilizer. At first, the effect of various parameters such as contact time (5-120 min), pH (3-10), adsorbent dose (0.3-3.5 g/L) and initial concentration of arsenate (2-10 mg/L) were investigated on process efficiency. Then optimum conditions in terms of contact time, pH, adsorbent dose and initial concentration of arsenate were determined by RSM method. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm model equilibrium constant, pseudo-first and second order kinetic constants were calculated. The residual arsenate was measured y using ICP-AES.

Results: The optimum values based on RSM for pH, absorbent dose, contact time, and initial concentration of arsenate were 7.16, 3.04 g/L, 91.48 min, and 9.71 mg/L respectively. Langmuir isotherm with R2= 0.9904 for Arsenate was the best graph for the experimental data. According to Langmuir isotherm model, the maximum amount of arsenate adsorption was 135.14mg/g. . The investigation of arsenate adsorption kinetics showed that arsenate adsorption follows the pseudo-second kinetics model.

Conclusion: This research showed that the adsorption process is depended on pH. With increasing pH, the ability of amine groups in chitosan are decreased to protonation, caused to decrease the efficiency of arsenate removal at high pH.


S Sobhanardakani, R Zandipak,
Volume 9, Issue 2 (9-2016)
Abstract

Background and Objective: Dyes are important pollutants that lead to producing serious hazards to human, other animals and organisms. Dyes are not biodegradable by aerobic treatment processes. Therefore, their removal from industrial effluents before discharging into the environment requires extreme and great attention. The aim of this research was to evaluate removal efficacy of methyl orange dye from aqueous solutions using NiFe2O4 nanoparticles.

Materials and Methods: This study was an empirical investigation in which NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation method and were used as an adsorbent for the removal of methyl orange from aqueous solution. NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were characterized using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electronic Microscopy (TEM), pHpzc and SEM-EDX elemental analysis methods. Experiments were conducted discontinuously using 20 mL methyl orange solution of 40 mg/L. The effect of variables such as pH (2-8), amount of adsorbent (0.009-0.07 g) and contact time (2-70 min) on the efficacy of dye removal was studied. Finally, experimental data were compared by Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherms and pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models.

Results: TEM images showed that the NiFe2O4 nanoparticles had spherical shapes with the size of 12 nm. The results indicated that removal efficiency increased up to 0.04 g adsorbent and 20 min contact time. The optimum pH for methyl range removal was 2. Moreover, under these conditions, the adsorption process followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm with a correlation coefficient of 0.995 and pseudo-second-order kinetic model with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. Also, the maximum adsorption capacity of the prepared adsorbent was 135 (mg/g) for Langmuir isotherm.

Conclusion: The NiFe2O4 nanoparticles are effective and available adsorbents for the removal of methyl orange from industrial wastewater.


S Dehestaniathar, Sh Amini, A Maleki, B Shahmoradi, N Reshadmanesh, P Teymouri,
Volume 9, Issue 2 (9-2016)
Abstract

Background and Objectives: Fluoride has both beneficial and detrimental effects on health. Therefore, it is important to determine its concentration in drinking water. Dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis are health effects caused by long term exposure to high levels of fluoride in drinking water. The aim of this research was to investigate fluoride removal using modified diatomite-supported ferric oxide nanoparticles and to determine the adsorption kinetics and isotherm.

Materials and Methods: This fundamental and practical study was performed at laboratory scale. The effects of pH (3.5-9.5), contact time (20-100 min), adsorbent dosage (1-5 g/L), and initial concentrations of fluoride (5-25 mg/L) on the adsorption efficiency were evaluated. The properties of adsorbent were investigated using XRD, XRF, FTIR and FESEM. Finally, the suitability of pseudo first and second order kinetics, and Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms for the data were investigated.

Results: This study showed that the removal efficiency of F- increased with increase in contact time, decrease in pH, increase in adsorbent dose, and increase in initial fluoride concentration. The highest removal efficiency was observed at pH=3.5, 60 minutes contact time, and 3 g/L of adsorbent dose in the initial concentration of 5 mg/L F-. Pseudo first order and Freundlich were the best fitted kinetic and isotherm models, respectively, for describing F- adsorption process.

Conclusion: The present study indicates that the modified diatomite-supported ferric oxide nanoparticles can be used as an effective and environmentally friendly biosorbent for the removal of fluoride ions from aqueous solutions.


S Abbasi,
Volume 9, Issue 3 (12-2016)
Abstract

Background and Objective: Owing to the extended usage in the safekeeping of environments, the photocatalytic materials have been widely applied. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the photocatalytic activity of ZnO and SnO2 nanoparticles in removal of methyl orange from aqueous media.

Materials and Methods: ZnO and SnO2 nanoparticles were synthesized through sol-gel and chemical precipitation respectively. Methyl orange was selected as model pollutant. The effect of weight fraction on the removal of pollutant was investigated in the range of 0.25, 0.5, and 1 weight percent. Meanwhile, for investigating the effect of radiation time, the suspension containing pollutant and nanoparticles was irradiated. The obtained results were analyzed by MSTATC, Ver 1.42 software and Duncan’s multiple range test.

Results: The analysis of variance results of removal efficiency of methyl orange showed that in the suspension involving ZnO and SnO2, radiation time, weight fraction and the combined effect of them have a significant effect on the removal of methyl orange at 5% level of probability. Meanwhile, by increasing irradiation time from 5 to 25 min, the removal efficiency in suspensions containing ZnO and SnO2 reached 97.42 and 65.55% respectively. Investigation on the effect of concentration on the removal of methyl orange shows that the removal of methyl orange increases with respect to the weight fraction.

Conclusion: According to the obtained results, it was observed that the photocatalytic activity of ZnO is higher than that of SnO2. Therefore, the application of ZnO is more effective for removal of methyl orange from aqueous media.


H Irvani, H Shojaee - Farah Abady, M Shahryari, M Nakhaei Pour,
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2017)
Abstract

Background and Objective: Styrene monomer is a volatile organic compound that is used in the various industries. Due to the hazardous effects of this chemical substance on the environment and humans, control and elimination of this vapour is necessary. Therefore, the aim of this study was to remove the styrene vapors from air flow using photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide immobilized on ZSM-5 zeolite.
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, the fabricated catalysts were characterized using analysis of BET, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Dynamic Concentrator System were used to generate styrene vapors at a certain concentration and flow, and then removal efficiency of the styrene vapors was investigated using UV/ZnO and UV/ZSM-5/ZnO.
Results: The results of XRD analysis and SEM images showed that produced zinc oxide had nano dimensions. In addition, these nanoparticles was successfully stabilized on ZSM-5 zeolite. The results of the photocatalytic removal showed that ZnO and ZSM-5/ZnO catalysts at the concentrations of 50 ppm eliminated the styrene vapor 14% and 37%, respectively.
Conclusion: Findings of this study showed that stabilization of zinc oxide nanoparticles on ZSM-5 zeolite had an ssynergistic effect on the photocatalytic degradation of styrene. According to this finding, the use of adsorption-photocatalyst hybrid systems can be an appropriate technique to remove styrene vapors and other similar pollutants.
 
S Bita, M Mesbah, A Shahryari, M Ghorbanpoor Najafabadi,
Volume 10, Issue 3 (12-2017)
Abstract

Background and Objective: Nanoparticles are already widely used in technology, medicine and consumer products, but there are limited data on their effects on the aquatic environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response of antioxidant defense system in common carp gills exposed to silver nanoparticles, which are produced by bioreduction method.
Materials and Methods: Common carp fish were exposed to the silver nanoparticles at concentrations of 0.11, 1.13 and 5.67 mg/L for 14 days. A treatment without silver was considered as a control. After sampling, 1 g of gill was weighed and homogenized in 5 mL phosphate buffer. The homogenized samples were analyzed for measuring the activity of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and malondialdehyde (MDA).
Results: CAT activity in gill at the concentrations of 1.13 and 5.67 mg/L AgNPs was significantly reduced compared to that of the control (p<0.05). When the activities of GSH and TAC of different treatments and the control were compared, no significant difference (p>0.05) was observed. Activity of SOD and MDA of all treatments sampled at different days was fluctuated, that is, it was either increased or decreased. However, superoxide dismutase activity was significantly higher in exposure to concentrations of 5.67 mg/L and 1.13 mg/L.
Conclusion: According to the results, fish gills are one of the most susceptible organs of oxidative damage in exposure to silver nanoparticles. This can affect the health of common carp and thus increase the risk of disease in the fish.
 
M Sabonian, Ma Behnajady,
Volume 11, Issue 2 (9-2018)
Abstract

Background and Objective: Chromium is present in two oxidation forms of Cr(III) and Cr(VI). Cr(III) is less toxic than Cr(VI). The aim of this article was to optimize an artificial neural network structure in modeling the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) by TiO2-P25 nanoparticles.
Materials and Methods: In this work, an artificial neural network (ANN) for the modeling photocatalytic reduction Cr(VI) by TiO2-P25 nanoparticles were used and its structure was optimized. The operating parameters were initial concentration of chromium, amount of photocatalyst, ultraviolet light irradiation time and pH. All the experiments were conducted in a batch photoreactor. The Cr(VI) concentration was measured with a UV/Vis spectrophotometer. ANN calculations were performed using Matlab 7 software and the ANN toolbox.
Results: The results show that the optimization of the ANN structure and the use of an appropriate algorithm and transfer function could significantly improve performance. The proposed neural network in modeling the photoactivity of TiO2-P25 nanoparticles in reducing Cr(VI) was acceptable, based on a good correlation coefficient (0.9886) and a small mean square error (0.00018). All the input variables affected the reduction of Cr(VI), however the effect of pH with an impact factor of 34.15 % was more significant than the others. The results indicated that pH = 2 was the best pH for photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI). Increasing photocatalyst dosage and irradiation time in the investigated range increased Cr(VI) photocatalytic reduction.
Conclusion: Optimized structure of the ANN includes a three-layer feed-forward back propagation network with 4:10:1 topology and the most appropriate algorithm is a scaled conjugate gradient backpropagation algorithm.
 

S Fallah Jokandan, M Yegane Badi, A Esrafili, A Azari, E Ahmadi, H Tarhandeh, M Kermani,
Volume 12, Issue 2 (9-2019)
Abstract

Background and Objective: The activities of various industries produce a wide range of pollutants and toxic compounds. One of these compounds is the catechol, a cyclic organic compound with high toxicity and resistant to degradation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate efficiency of powder activated carbon magnetized with Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the removal of catechol from aqueous solutions by response surface methodology.
Materials and Methods: The co-precipitation method was used to synthesize magnetic powder activated carbon and its properties were analyzed by SEM and XRD analysis. Then, the effect of the parameters such as pH, contact time, absorbent dose, initial concentration of catechol and temperature on the efficiency of adsorption process were investigated using a response surface methodology (Box–Behnken). The residual concentration of catechol was measured by HPLC at 275 nm.
Results: The results showed that the maximum efficiency of the adsorption process was obtained at concentration of 20 mg/L, pH=3, contact time 90 minutes, at 25 °C and absorbent dose of 1.5 g/L. The study of isotherm and kinetics showed that the experimental data of the catechol adsorption process correlated with the Langmuir and pseudo-second order models, respectively. Thermodynamic study of the reaction also expresses the Exothermic and Spontaneous process.
Conclusion: The results showed that the adsorption process using powder activated carbon magnetized with Fe3O4 nanoparticles at acidic pH had better efficiency. As a result, the studied process as an effective, rapid and inexpensive method for removal of catechol from aqueous solutions is proposed. Due to its short reaction time, it is economically affordable process.
 

Z Esdaki, R Ansari, F Ostovar,
Volume 12, Issue 3 (12-2019)
Abstract

Background and Objective: Due to the existence of industries such as stainless steel, the presence of nickel (II) ions in water and wastewater has been reported at high concentrations. Removal of nickel (II) ions from wastewater and the environment are of primary importance. In this study, iron (III) oxide nanoparticles were studied as an adsorbent for removal of Ni (II) ions from water in the batch equilibrium system.
Materials and Methods: FT-IR, SEM and XRD techniques were used to characterize the structure of the sample. To determine the optimum adsorption, the effect of important parameters such as pH, contact time, adsorbent weight and initial concentration were investigated. Also, thermodynamic study (Gibbs standard energy variations, enthalpy and entropy), isothermal studies (absorption capacity) and kinetic studies (absorbent effect with time) were investigated.
Results: The results showed that the magnetic adsorbent had the highest removal efficiency of nickel (II) at pH 7, contact time 60 min, adsorbent dosage of 200 mg, and maximum removable concentration of 400 mg/L.
Conclusion: With thermodynamic studies, it was determined that the reaction was endothermic and the spontaneous process was controlled using the entropy factor (ΔG°=-2.7 KJ/mol, ΔS°=+165.17 J/mol.K). In order to better understand the mechanism of adsorption, kinetics studies were carried out using the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models. Then, Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were investigated to determine the adsorption capacity, and it was found that the adsorption data were well fitted to Freundlich model and the maximum adsorption capacity was 43.5 mg/g, which indicated high adsorption capacity and its multi-layers.Then, Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were investigated and it was found that the adsorption data were well fitted to Freundlich model and maximum adsorption capacity (qmax=43.5 mg/g) was obtained which indicates good adsorption capacity of adsorbent and its multi-layers.
 

Mehran Riazian, Maryam Yousefpoor,
Volume 14, Issue 1 (5-2021)
Abstract

Background and Objective: In the present research, the synthesis and characterization of ZnS nanoparticles in zinc blend crystallite phase via hydrothermal method were reported. Advanced oxidation processes using nanophotocatalysts are one of the most efficient methods for removing the dyes with complex organic compounds from textile and industrial wastewaters. The photocatalytic performance of nanoparticles is drastically affected by their structural and optical properties. One of the most important features affecting the photocatalytic degradation of nanoparticles is their optical bandgap width, which is an important factor in the radiant photons in the visible and UV region and the production of active radicals to destroy the complex carbon pollutants. The optical bandgap width, like other properties of nanoparticles is affected by three important geometric parameters, including particle size, dimension and shape. It is also a function of synthetic chemistry, i.e. the precursors and the fabrication methods. The aim of the present study was to investigate the nanostructure of zinc-sulfide synthesized nanoparticles, optical properties and photocatalytic effect on the degradation of Methylene Orange dye.
Materials and Methods: The experiment of degradation of dye consisted of 70 mg of synthesized nanoparticles in 100 mL of dye solution containing 3.75 ppm of Methylene Orange dye at pH = 5.5. The experimental steps were repeated three times. Nanostructure characterization of three-dimension ZnS nanoparticles was specified by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Furrier transform infrared, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and N2 adsorption-desorption.
Results: The lattice characteristics such as density, specific surface area, size, strain, stress and deformation energy density are specified using Williamson-Hall (W-H) and Halder-Wagner (H-W) analysis. The photocatalytic degradation rate (k) of Methylene Orange was calculated to be 0.052 1/min, whilst after 60 minutes about 95% of the dye was photodegraded. The N2 adsorption-desorption calculations determined the mean pore diameter, specific surface area (SBET) and total porosity volume as 20.69 nm, 19.12 m2/g and 0.065 m3/g, respectively. The bandgap of fabrication ZnS has been evaluated from the Tauc's equation to be 3.47 eV. Compared with ZnS nanoparticles made by the hydrothermal method in the wurtzite crystallite phase (sample 2), the synthesized sample (sample 1) shows less lattice strain and stress, less crystallite size and also revealed the higher photocatalytic activity.
Conclusion: The pure zinc-sulfide nanoparticles without metal or ceramic dopants in the cubic zinc-blend crystallite phase are synthesized using the hydrothermal method. The precursors used in the synthesis of zinc-sulfide nanoparticles include zinc chloride and thioacetamide in the presence of oleic acid as a collecting agent. High photocatalytic activity of ZnS nanoparticles was confirmed by the degradation or dechlorination of Methylene Orange solution under UV light irradiation. Compared to similar studies, the results show that reducing the optical bandgap from 3.84 eV to 3.47 eV increases the degradation rate from 0.031 to 0.052. In this study, it was shown that synthesized zinc-sulfide nanoparticles by hydrothermal method, was able to decrease optical gap bandwidth and subsequently increased photocatalytic activity.

Nahied Shahbodaghi, Daryoush Afzali, Maryam Fayazi,
Volume 15, Issue 1 (4-2022)
Abstract

Background and Objective: With increasing water pollution, serious water shortages and increased pressure to save water, recycling and reuse of water has attracted more attention in various industries. Removal of silica from cooling water is essential for recycling and reuse of water. The aim of this study was to remove silica from water using magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO) synthesized by chemical deposition method.
Materials and Methods: Synthetic nanoparticles were successfully determined using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). To determine the optimal adsorption conditions the batch system, the effect of important parameters such as pH (2-8), contact time (0-150 min), initial concentration of silica solution (50-1000 mg/L), adsorbent amount (0.01-0.14 g) and temperature (25-60 ˚C) were studied.
Results: Under optimal conditions, an almost removal of 200 mg/L silica solution was achieved in 60 min reaction time. Equilibrium data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The adsorption process can be well described by the Langmuir model, and the maximum adsorption capacity was calculated as 75.76 mg/g. Synthetic data were analyzed using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order equations. The pseudo-second-order model showed good agreement with the obtained data (R2 = 0.9949).
Conclusion: Due to the high potential of magnesium oxide nanoparticles in silica removal, it can be a good candidate for the removal of silica and industrial wastewater treatment.
 

Zohreh Akbari Jonoush, Abbas Rezaee, Ali Ghaffarinejad,
Volume 15, Issue 2 (8-2022)
Abstract

Background and Objective: This study aimed to provide an effective electro-catalytic system for the simultaneous reduction of nitrate and disinfection of contaminated water by the electro-catalytic performance of Ni-Fe/Fe3O4 cathode.
Materials and Methods: At first, the Ni-Fe electrode was synthesized by the electro-deposition process. Then its physical properties were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, and photoelectron X-ray spectroscopy (XPS). Simultaneous disinfection and reduction of nitrate were performed under the following conditions: 15 mg Fe3O4 nanoparticles, pH 6.5, NaCl 10 mM, 50 mg/L nitrate, 105 CFU/mL and current density 4 mA/cm2.
Results: According to the results obtained in the absence of nitrate, 100 % of Escherichia coli bacteria were disinfected after 12 minutes. In the presence of nitrate, the time of complete disinfection increased to 120 minutes. In the absence of bacteria, 83% of nitrate was removed in 240 minutes, and in the presence of bacteria, the nitrate reduction efficiency increased slightly to 88%. In the nitrate reduction process, nitrite (0.22 mg/L) and ammonium (3.6 mg/L) were produced. In the presence of bacteria, the amounts of nitrite and ammonium produced increased to 0.42 mg/L and 7.3 mg/L.
Conclusion: The results show the outstanding ability of Ni-Fe/Fe3O4 electrode in electro-catalytic reduction of nitrate and disinfection of contaminated water separately and simultaneously with high efficiency and high selectivity to nitrogen.


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