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Novel Aerogel Absorbent Derived from Iron Tailings Via Atmospheric Drying

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Abstract

Silica-based aerogel composite was prepared adopting sol–gel technique combined with atmospheric drying method utilizing waste environmentally hazardous iron tailings. High-temperature alkali fusion was applied to extract the Si, Al and Fe in the tailings so as to maximize recovery of valuable elements. The SiO2-Al2O3 (SA) and SiO2-Al2O3-Fe2O3 (SAF) aerogel composites were subjected to assess its adsorption capacity for macromolecules, utilizing methylene blue (MB) as the adsorbate. The specific surface areas of the SA and SAF aerogel were estimated to be 922.03 m2/g and 683.84 m2/g. The equilibrium adsorption capacity for MB was estimated to be 318.47 mg/g and 334.44 mg/g, respectively. Although the specific surface area of SAF was lower than SA, it offered higher MB adsorption capacity which could be attributed to the presence of iron oxide. The results promised utilization of iron tailing generated aerogel composite as a potential adsorbent for separation of high molecular weight compounds.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the National Key Research and Development Project (2019YFC1904601) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials for Ecological Environment and Information, (Hebei University of Technology), Ministry of Education, Tianjin, 300130, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Hong & Xinhui Duan

  2. Key Laboratory for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300130, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Hong & Xinhui Duan

  3. Institute of Power Source and Ecomaterials Science, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300130, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Hong & Xinhui Duan

  4. Facility Management Department, Minmetals Yingkou Medium Plate Co., Ltd (MYMP), Yejin Street, Fanrong Road No. 1, Yingkou, 115005, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China

    Xuelin Liu

  5. Chemical Engineering Department, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    C. Srinivasakannan

  6. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang, 050018, Hebei, People’s Republic of China

    Xin Wang

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  1. Wei Hong
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Correspondence to Xinhui Duan.

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Hong, W., Liu, X., Srinivasakannan, C. et al. Novel Aerogel Absorbent Derived from Iron Tailings Via Atmospheric Drying. Arab J Sci Eng 47, 6901–6914 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-05973-1

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