Properties and structure of manganese oxide-coated clay

Analysis of the adsorption and retention models for Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn through neural networks: selection of variables and competitive model

In this study, the neural networks are used to predict and explain the behavior of different edaphological variables in the adsorption and retention of heavy metals, both isolated and competing. A comparison with the results obtained using multiple regression, stepwise analysis, and regression trees is performed. In the neural network technique, CEC amorphous and crystallized oxides and kaolinite in the clay fraction are the most selected variables for making the optimal models, while mica and, to a lesser extent, plagioclase, are the next variables selected. Additionally, a competitive model has been considered, using simultaneously different metals. In the competitive model, the model predicts a more intense competence between Pb and Ni for the adsorption process and between Cr and Ni for the retention process.

Soil Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn sorption and retention models using SVM: Variable selection and competitive model

The aim of this study was to model the sorption and retention of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in soils. To that extent, the sorption and retention of these metals were studied and the soil characterization was performed separately. Multiple stepwise regression was used to produce multivariate models with linear techniques and with support vector machines, all of which included 15 explanatory variables characterizing soils. When the R-squared values are represented, two different groups are noticed. Cr, Cu and Pb sorption and retention show a higher R-squared; the most explanatory variables being humified organic matter, Al oxides and, in some cases, cation-exchange capacity (CEC). The other group of metals (Cd, Ni and Zn) shows a lower R-squared, and clays are the most explanatory variables, including a percentage of vermiculite and slime. In some cases, quartz, plagioclase or hematite percentages also show some explanatory capacity. Support Vector Machine (SVM) regression shows that the different models are not as regular as in multiple regression in terms of number of variables, the regression for nickel adsorption being the one with the highest number of variables in its optimal model. On the other hand, there are cases where the most explanatory variables are the same for two metals, as it happens with Cd and Cr adsorption. A similar adsorption mechanism is thus postulated. These patterns of the introduction of variables in the model allow us to create explainability sequences. Those which are the most similar to the selectivity sequences obtained by Covelo (2005) are Mn oxides in multiple regression and change capacity in SVM. Among all the variables, the only one that is explanatory for all the metals after applying the maximum parsimony principle is the percentage of sand in the retention process. In the competitive model arising from the aforementioned sequences, the most intense competitiveness for the adsorption and retention of different metals appears between Cr and Cd, Cu and Zn in multiple regression; and between Cr and Cd in SVM regression.

Analysis of the Importance of Oxides and Clays in Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn Adsorption and Retention with Regression Trees

This study determines the influence of the different soil components and of the cation-exchange capacity on the adsorption and retention of different heavy metals: cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc. In order to do so, regression models were created through decision trees and the importance of soil components was assessed. Used variables were: humified organic matter, specific cation-exchange capacity, percentages of sand and silt, proportions of Mn, Fe and Al oxides and hematite, and the proportion of quartz, plagioclase and mica, and the proportions of the different clays: kaolinite, vermiculite, gibbsite and chlorite. The most important components in the obtained models were vermiculite and gibbsite, especially for the adsorption of cadmium and zinc, while clays were less relevant. Oxides are less important than clays, especially for the adsorption of chromium and lead and the retention of chromium, copper and lead.

Enhanced decolorization of dyes by an iron modified clay and thermodynamic parameters

The sorption processes of red 5 (R5) and yellow 5 (Y5) dyes by iron modified and sodium bentonite in aqueous solutions was evaluated. The modified clay was prepared, conditioned and characterized. The sodium clay did not remove any of either dye. The sorption kinetics and isotherms of R5 and Y5 dyes by iron modified clay were determined. The maximum removal percentages achieved were 97% and 98% for R5 and Y5, respectively, and a contact time of 72 h; the experimental data were best adjusted to Ho model. The isotherms of both dyes were best adjusted to the Langmuir model and the maximum adsorption capacities of the modified clay were 11.26 mg/g and 5.28 mg/g for R5 and Y5, respectively. These results indicate that adsorption processes have a high probability to be described as chemisorption on a homogeneous material. Temperature range between 283 and 213 K does not affect the adsorption of Y5 by the iron modified clay, but the adsorption process of R5 was affected, and the thermodynamic parameters could be calculated, which indicate a chemisorption mechanism.

Transformation of bisphenol A by manganese oxide-coated sand

Oxidative transformation of organic contaminants by manganese oxides was commonly investigated with pure MnO(2) suspension, which deviates from the fact that natural manganese oxides are seldom present as a pure form in the natural environment. In this study, we prepared manganese oxide-coated sand (MOCS) and evaluated its oxidative capacity using bisphenol A (BPA) as the model compound. BPA was transformed by MOCS and the reaction followed an exponential decay model. The reaction was pH dependent and followed the order of pH 4.5>pH 5.5>pH 6.5>pH 7.5>pH 8.6>pH 9.6, indicating that acidic conditions facilitated BPA transformation while basic conditions disfavored the reaction. Coexisting metal ions exhibited inhibitory effects and followed the order of Fe(3+) > Zn(2+) > Cu(2+) > Ca(2+) > Mg(2+) > Na(+). Transformation of BPA by MOCS was much slower than that by pure MnO(2) suspension. However, similar transformation products were identified in both studies, suggesting the same reaction pathways. This work suggests that the reactivity of MnO(2) in the environment might be overestimated if extrapolating the result from the pure MnO(2) suspension because natural MnO(2) is mainly present as coating on the surface of soils and sediments.

Impact of interactions between metal oxides to oxidative reactivity of manganese dioxide

Manganese oxides typically exist as mixtures with other metal oxides in soil-water environments; however, information is only available on their redox activity as single oxides. To bridge this gap, we examined three binary oxide mixtures containing MnO(2) and a secondary metal oxide (Al(2)O(3), SiO(2) or TiO(2)). The goal was to understand how these secondary oxides affect the oxidative reactivity of MnO(2). SEM images suggest significant heteroaggregation between Al(2)O(3) and MnO(2) and to a lesser extent between SiO(2)/TiO(2) and MnO(2). Using triclosan and chlorophene as probe compounds, pseudofirst-order kinetic results showed that Al(2)O(3) had the strongest inhibitory effect on MnO(2) reactivity, followed by SiO(2) and then TiO(2). Al(3+) ion or soluble SiO(2) had comparable inhibitory effects as Al(2)O(3) or SiO(2), indicating the dominant inhibitory mechanism was surface complexation/precipitation of Al/Si species on MnO(2) surfaces. TiO(2) inhibited MnO(2) reactivity only when a limited amount of triclosan was present. Due to strong adsorption and slow desorption of triclosan by TiO(2), precursor-complex formation between triclosan and MnO(2) was much slower and likely became the new rate-limiting step (as opposed to electron transfer in all other cases). These mechanisms can also explain the observed adsorption behavior of triclosan by the binary oxide mixtures and single oxides.

Decolorization of methylene blue by delta-MnO2-coated montmorillonite complexes: emphasizing redox reactivity of Mn-oxide coatings

Delta-MnO(2) coatings on clay substrates tend to be poorer in crystallinity as compared with their discrete counterparts, which may be of environmental significance for adsorption and oxidation of contaminants. Discrete delta-MnO(2) particles and three delta-MnO(2)-coated montmorillonite complexes with varying MnO(2) loadings (4.8-34.9%) were synthesized, and oxidative decolorization of methylene blue (MB) by the synthetic materials was investigated in batch systems. Results showed that oxidative decolorization of MB increased with increasing loading of Mn-oxide coatings, whereas oxidation capacity of the coatings, on the basis of unit mass of MnO(2), tended to decrease. Initial reaction rate of MB oxidation by both delta-MnO(2) coatings and their discrete counterpart increased linearly with increasing Mn-oxide loadings, but the rate of the former was higher than that of the latter. An increase in humic acid concentration displayed a progressively enhanced promotive effect on MB decolorization, whereas the promotive effect was greatly suppressed at lower pH.

Removal of fluoride by hydrous manganese oxide-coated alumina: performance and mechanism

A novel hydrous-manganese-oxide-coated alumina (HMOCA) material was prepared through a redox process. The adsorbent was characterized by SEM, BET surface area measurement, XRD, pH(PZC) measurement, FTIR spectroscopy, and XPS. The manganese oxides were amorphous and manganese existed mainly in the +IV oxidation state. Batch and column experiments were carried out to investigate the adsorption potential of the adsorbent. Fluoride adsorption onto HMOCA followed the pseudo-second-order equation well with a correlation coefficient greater than 0.99. Both external and intraparticle diffusion contributed to the rate of transfer and removal. The adsorption of fluoride was thought to take place mainly by ion-exchange. Optimum removal of fluoride occurred in a pH range of 4.0-6.0. The maximum adsorption capacity calculated from the Langmuir model was 7.09 mg/g. The presence of HCO(3)(-), SO(4)(2-) and PO(4)(3-) had negative effects on the adsorption of fluoride. The adsorbed fluoride can be released by alkali solution. Column studies were performed and 669 bed volumes were treated with the effluent fluoride under 1.0mg/L at an influent F(-) concentration of 5.0mg/L and flow rate of 2.39 m(3)/(m(2)h) (empty bed contact time=7.5 min).

Removal of basic dye by modified Unye bentonite, Turkey

The adsorption behavior of crystal violet (CV(+)) from aqueous solution onto raw (RB) and manganese oxide-modified (MMB) bentonite samples was investigated as a function of parameters such as initial CV(+) concentration, contact time and temperature. The Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) adsorption models were applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms. The Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacities of RB and MMB were estimated as 0.32 and 1.12 mmol/g, respectively. The mean adsorption energy derived from D-R isotherm for MMB showed that the type of adsorption of dye molecules on this material may be defined as chemical adsorption. The adsorption rate was fast and more than half of the adsorbed-CV(+) was removed in the first 55 min for RB and 5 min for MMB at the room temperature. The pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order kinetic and the intraparticle diffusion models were used to describe the kinetic data and rate constants were evaluated. The thermodynamic parameters such as DeltaH, DeltaS and DeltaG were found 117.41 kJ/mol, 41.50 J/(molK), -5.07 kJ/mol (RB) and 21.19 kJ/mol 98.34 J/(molK), -7.84 kJ/mol (MMB) at 295.15 K, respectively. The quite high adsorption capacity and high adsorption rate of MMB will provide an important advantage for using of this material in basic dye solution.

Removal of lead ions by acid activated and manganese oxide-coated bentonite

This paper presents the adsorption of Pb(II) from aqua solutions onto Unye (Turkey) bentonite in raw (RB), acid activated (AAB) and manganese oxide-coated (MCB) forms. Adsorption of Pb(II) by RB, AAB and MCB sample was investigated as a function of the initial Pb(II) concentration, solution pH, ionic strength, temperature and inorganic ligand (Cl(-)). Changes in the surfaces and structure were characterized by means of XRD, IR and potentiometric titration. The Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacities of RB, AAB and MCB in 0.1M KNO(3) solution were estimated as 16.70, 8.92 and 58.88 mg/g, respectively. The spontaneity of the adsorption process is established by decrease in DeltaG which varied from -21.60 to -28.60 kJ/mol (RB), -22.63 to -29.98 kJ/mol (AAB) and -19.57 to -26.22 (MCB) in temperature range 303-338 K.

Removal of copper ions by modified Unye clay, Turkey

This paper presents the adsorption of Cu(II) from aqueous solution on modified Unye bentonite. Adsorption of Cu(II) by manganase oxide modified bentonite (MMB) sample was investigated as a function of the initial Cu(II) concentration, solution pH, ionic strength, temperature and inorganic ligands (Cl(-), SO(4)(2-), HPO(4)(2-)). Changes in the surfaces and structure were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, N(2) gas adsorption and potentiometric titration data. The adsorption properties of raw bentonite (RB) were further improved by modification with manganese oxide. Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacity of the MMB (105.38 mg/g) was found greater than that of the raw bentonite (42.41 mg/g). The spontaneity of the adsorption process is established by decrease in DeltaG which varied from -4.68 to -5.10 kJ mol(-1) in temperature range 303-313 K. The high performance exhibited by MMB was attributed to increased surface area and higher negative surface charge after modification.

Nickel and lead sequestration in manganese oxide-coated montmorillonite

Amorphous hydrous manganese oxide (HMO) is an important mineral in soils and sediments influencing the mobility and bioavailability of metal contaminants. In this study, nickel and lead sorption to discrete HMO and HMO-coated montmorillonite was investigated mechanistically. The effect of pH and concentration revealed that when normalized to the mass of oxide present, the HMO-coated montmorillonite behaved similarly to the discrete Mn oxide, where both ions sorbed onto HMO-coated montmorillonite as inner-sphere complexes. Ni coordinated to the vacancy sites in the Mn oxide structure, while Pb formed bidentate corner-sharing complexes. These coordination environments were observed not only as a function of loading, pH, and ionic strength, but also in long-term studies where sorption increased by as much as 100% (from 6x10(-4) to 1.2x10(-3) mol Ni/g HMO-coated montmorillonite). In this slower sorption process, intraparticle diffusion, the internal surface sites along microporous walls appear to be no different than external ones. Best fit diffusivities ranged from 10(-12) to 10(-13) cm2/s for Ni and 10(-17) to 10(-20) cm2/s for Pb. The significant difference in the diffusivities for the two ions is consistent with site activation theory, where theoretical surface diffusivities were predicted and given their error were in agreement with experimental results. Mn oxides sequester heavy metals in the environment.

Surface complexation of Pb(II) on amorphous iron oxide and manganese oxide: Spectroscopic and time studies

Hydrous Fe and Mn oxides (HFO and HMO) are important sinks for heavy metals and Pb(II) is one of the more prevalent metal contaminants in the environment. In this work, Pb(II) sorption to HFO (Fe(2)O(3) x nH(2)O, n=1-3) and HMO (MnO(2)) surfaces has been studied with EXAFS: mononuclear bidentate surface complexes were observed on FeO(6) (MnO(6)) octahedra with PbO distance of 2.25-2.35 Angstrom and PbFe(Mn) distances of 3.29-3.36 (3.65-3.76) Angstrom. These surface complexes were invariant of pH 5 and 6, ionic strength 2.8 x 10(-3) to 1.5 x 10(-2), loading 2.03 x 10(-4) to 9.1 x 10(-3) mol Pb/g, and reaction time up to 21 months. EXAFS data at the Fe K-edge revealed that freshly precipitated HFO exhibits short-range order; the sorbed Pb(II) ions do not substitute for Fe but may inhibit crystallization of HFO. Pb(II) sorbed to HFO through a rapid initial uptake ( approximately 77%) followed by a slow intraparticle diffusion step ( approximately 23%) resulting in a surface diffusivity of 2.5 x 10(-15) cm(2)/s. Results from this study suggest that mechanistic investigations provide a solid basis for successful adsorption modeling and that inclusion of intraparticle surface diffusion may lead to improved geochemical transport depiction.

The impact of Mn oxide coatings on Zn distribution

Zinc sorption to hydrous manganese oxide (HMO)-coated clay was investigated macroscopically, kinetically, and spectroscopically. Adsorption edges and isotherms revealed that the affinity and capacity of the HMO-coated montmorillonite was greater than that of montmorillonite, and when normalized to the oxide present, the coatings behaved similarly to the discrete Mn oxide. Over two pH conditions, 5 and 6, a linear relationship was observed for the isotherms; further analysis with X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) resulted in one type of sorption configuration as a function of loading and ionic strength at pH 5. However, at a surface loading of 10(-3) mol(Zn) g(HMO-coatedclay)(-1) when the pH increased from 5 to 7, the first shell distance decreased slightly, while the atoms and coordination numbers remained the same; this change may be attributed to an increase in electrostatic interactions. After a contact time of 4 months where an additional 60% of the sites become occupied, the slower sorption process was modeled as intraparticle surface diffusion. Best fit diffusivities ranged from 10(-18) to 10(-17) cm2/s, where a slower process was observed for the coated surface as compared to the discrete oxide. Interestingly, the porosity of the Mn oxide coating appears to be influenced by the substrate during its growth, as its increase and shift to a smaller pore size distribution resulted in a diffusivity between that observed for discrete HMO and montmorillonite.