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Adsorption Removal of Cr(VI) with Activated Carbon Prepared by Co-pyrolysis of Rice Straw and Sewage Sludge with ZnCl2 Activation

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Abstract

In the study, an activated carbon was prepared by co-pyrolyzing rice straw and sewage sludge with ZnCl2 activation (SS-RS AC) and used to remove Cr(VI) from wastewater. Firstly, for the preparation of SS-RS AC, the yield and iodine number were used to determine the appropriate addition percentage of rice straw. Then, a series of batch experiments including initial pH, adsorption kinetics and isotherms, and ionic strength as well as Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis of SS-RS AC before and after adsorption were performed to explore the Cr(VI) adsorption removal behavior and mechanism of SS-RS AC prepared from sewage sludge with the appropriate rice straw addition percentage. The results showed that the appropriate addition percentage of rice straw was 20%. For the Cr(VI) adsorption removal with SS-RS AC, the initial pH of solution significantly influenced the removal efficient. The highest efficiency of Cr(VI) adsorption removal (97.7%) could be attained at pH 2.0. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm data were best fitted by the pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir-Freundlich model, respectively. The prepared SS-RS AC had the maximum Cr(VI) adsorption removal capacity of 138.69 mg/g at 40 °C. The main mechanisms for the Cr(VI) removal with SS-RS AC involve the electrostatic attraction and the reduction of Cr(VI). Carboxy, amine, and hydroxyl groups were found to act as electron donor groups, contributing to the reduction of Cr(VI). The ionic strength had an adverse effect on the Cr(VI) removal. Overall, the prepared SS-RS AC can be used as an alternative and low-cost adsorbent for the removal of Cr(VI).

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Undergraduate Innovation Training Program Funded Project of Sichuan Agricultural University (No. 201610626042) and the Scientific Research Innovation Team Project of Sichuan Provincial Department of Education (No. 16TD0006).

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  1. Liangqian Fan, Wenxin Wan, and Xianda Wang contributed equally to this study and share first authorship

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Civil Engineering, Sichuan Agricultural University, Dujiangyan, 611830, China

    Liangqian Fan, Xianda Wang, Fenghui Chen, Wei Chen, Lin Ji, Hongbing Luo & Lin Cheng

  2. Sichuan Higher Education Engineering Research Center for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation of Village Construction, Sichuan Agricultural University, Dujiangyan, 611830, China

    Liangqian Fan, Fenghui Chen, Wei Chen, Lin Ji, Hongbing Luo & Lin Cheng

  3. College of Environment, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, 611130, China

    Wenxin Wan

  4. Department of Physical and Chemical Analysis, Dujiangyan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dujiangyan, 611830, China

    Jie Cai

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  1. Liangqian Fan
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Fan, L., Wan, W., Wang, X. et al. Adsorption Removal of Cr(VI) with Activated Carbon Prepared by Co-pyrolysis of Rice Straw and Sewage Sludge with ZnCl2 Activation. Water Air Soil Pollut 230, 233 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-019-4305-8

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