A1 Journal article (refereed)
Alkali-Activated Adsorbents from Slags : Column Adsorption and Regeneration Study for Nickel(II) Removal (2021)

Sundhararasu, E., Tuomikoski, S., Runtti, H., Hu, T., Varila, T., Kangas, T., & Lassi, U. (2021). Alkali-Activated Adsorbents from Slags : Column Adsorption and Regeneration Study for Nickel(II) Removal. ChemEngineering, 5(1), Article 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering5010013

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Sundhararasu, Elavarasi; Tuomikoski, Sari; Runtti, Hanna; Hu, Tao; Varila, Toni; Kangas, Teija; Lassi, Ulla

Journal or series: ChemEngineering

eISSN: 2305-7084

Publication year: 2021

Volume: 5

Issue number: 1

Article number: 13

Publisher: MDPI

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering5010013

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/75020

Abstract

Alkali-activated adsorbents were synthesized by mixing three different slags from the steel industry: blast furnace slag (BFS), ladle slag (LS), and Lintz–Donawitz converter slag (LD). These powdered slag-based geopolymers (GP) were used to remove nickel(II) from aqueous solutions in fixed-bed column studies. The experiments were conducted in pH 6 using a phosphate buffer with initial nickel(II) concentration of 50 mg/L. Samples were taken at time intervals of between 5 and 90 min. Three adsorption–desorption cycles were implemented with a flow rate of 5 mL/min. The geopolymers were characterized by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), specific surface area measurements, and a leaching test. The data were found to describe the Thomas, Adams–Bohart, and Yoon–Nelson models well. For GP (BFS, LS), experimental adsorption capacity was 2.92 mg/g, and for GP (LD, BFS, LS), it was 1.34 mg/g. The results indicated that the produced adsorbents have the potential to be used as adsorbents for the removal of nickel(II).

Keywords: waste water treatment; heavy metals; nickel; adsorption; geopolymers; waste utilisation; steel industry; slag

Free keywords: column studies; wastewater treatment; heavy metal; kinetic models

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Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2021

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