Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering (Jun 2024)

Experimental investigation, kinetics and statistical modeling of methylene blue removal onto Clay@Fe3O4: Batch, fixed bed column adsorption and photo-Fenton degradation studies

  • Abdelali Aboussabek,
  • Latifa Boukarma,
  • Saadia El Qdhy,
  • Abdellah Ousaa,
  • Mohamed Zerbet,
  • Mohamed Chiban

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9
p. 100580

Abstract

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This study explores the use of muscovite mica combined with Fe3O4 nanoparticles to create a low-cost bio-composite. The composite was analyzed using XRD, pHPZC, FTIR, SEM, EDX, XRF, and BET. The investigation of adsorption parameters unveiled an adsorption efficacy of 97 % after 30 min with a ratio of 1 g/L. The experimental data aligned well with the pseudo-second-order equation and Temkin model, indicating a maximum adsorption capacity of 51.17 mg/g. Fixed-bed column studies demonstrated decreased efficiency with increased initial concentration, flow rate, and bed depth, with optimal performance at pH=8 and accurate representation by the Thomas model. The maximum capacity is achieved 34.69 mg/g when the bed depth is 0.5 cm, the flow rate is 2.5 mL/min, and the inlet concentration is 50 mg/L. The composite's degradation efficacy was evaluated under sunlight-activated photocatalysis, achieving over 95% degradation of MB within 90 minutes using 3 mL H2O2, an initial MB concentration of 40 mg/L, and only a catalyst quantity of 0.25 g/L. Degradation data were well-fitted by the first-order kinetic model. The study highlights the remarkable efficiency and swiftness of the degradation process compared to adsorption.

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