Application of wheat bran based biomaterials and nano-catalyst in textile wastewater

Abstract

The exponential expansion of industrial production during the past few decades has been detrimental to the environment owing to increased contamination with chemical pollutants such as heavy metals and dyes. Each year, large volumes of agricultural byproducts are generated as waste materials from various food crops, one which is wheat bran from wheat, the world’s largest food crop. Approximately 12% of dyes made from synthetic materials used by the textile industry are lost in the production and processing phases; similarly, 20% of the resulting dye reaches the ecosystem via industrial wastewater effluents. These dyes are highly radioactive and have potentially negative consequences; therefore, several federal and environmental authorities have enacted stringent regulations and restrictions prohibiting the dumping of dye-containing raw sewage into existing water bodies. Although there are several methods to remove dye from wastewater, the preferred approach is adsorption. Activated charcoal is one of the best adsorbents. However, its use in industrial water treatment, mainly in developing nations, is confined because of its high cost. Owing to the increasing price of activated carbon, researchers have been tasked with developing a low-cost, reliable adsorbent that can be substituted for activated carbon. Several adsorbents, such as biosorbents, carbon-based nano-adsorbents, transition metal-based oxides, Metal-organic frameworks MOFs, and polymer-based adsorbents, are used to treat dye-containing wastewater. This chapter compiles the results of various studies that analyzed the use of wheat bran as an absorbent for eliminating dyes and other toxic effluents from the textile industry. Dye removal via adsorption and nano-materials is expected to be a promising method for the treatment of dye-laden water.

Keywords

• Textile
• Wheat bran
• Dyes
• Biosorption
• Adsorbent
• Adsorption