Fruit waste-derived cellulose-polyaniline composite for adsorption-coupled reduction of chromium oxyanions

Hexavalent chromium oxyanions, known as potentially toxic micropollutants, exist in the effluents and discharges of metallurgical, electroplating, refractory, chemical, and tanning industries. The exposure of chromium-contaminated water causes severe health hazards. The present work outlines a facile approach to grow polyaniline (PANI) on fruit-waste-derived cellulose (CEL) via oxidative polymerization of aniline; followed by chemical processing with NH4OH to obtain CEL-PANI-EB composites for adsorptive separation-coupled reduction of highly toxic hexavalent chromium oxyanions. The spectroscopic analyses of the CEL-PANI-EB composite before and after adsorption of Cr(VI) oxyanions revealed hydrogen bonding, electrostatic, and complexation as major interactive pathways. The adsorbed hexavalent chromium oxyanions are reduced into Cr(III) species by oxidation of PANI-based benzenoid amine into quinoid imine in the CEL-PANI-EB composite. The adsorption of Cr(VI) oxyanions by the CEL-PANI-EB composite showed negligible effects of other anionic co-pollutants, like NO3- and SO42-. The CEL-PANI-EB composite adsorbed Cr(VI) oxyanions with a removal capacity of 469 mg g-1, based on the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. The hydroxyl functionalities in cellulose and amine/imine functionalities in PANI facilitate the electrostatic attraction between the CEL-PANI-EB and Cr(VI) oxyanions in an acidic environment beside the hydrogen linkages. The adsorbed Cr(VI) oxyanions are reduced to Cr(III)-based species by the benzenoid amines of PANI, as revealed from the XPS analyses. The CEL-PANI-EB composite showed excellent recyclability and maintained 83.4% adsorption efficiency after seven runs of chromium adsorption-desorption. The current findings reveal the potential of CEL-PANI-EB composites for the adsorptive removal of Cr(VI) oxyanions and their conversion into a lesser toxic form, making them promising materials for wastewater treatment applications.

Comments on "Fast and efficient removal of Cr(VI) to ppb level together with Cr(III) sequestration in water using layered double hydroxide interclated with diethyldithiocarbamate"

This paper primarily aimed to provide some concerns and continue discussion about the previous published paper in this journal. First, when the mechanism of Cr(VI) removal from solution involved in adsorption-coupled reduction was proposed, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of Cr 2p spectrum of laden adsorbent (i.e., DDTC-LDH after adsorption) needs to demonstrate the co-existence of Cr(VI) and Cr(III). The detection of reduced Cr(III) in solution after the completed adsorption of Cr(VI) only provides information on the mechanism regarding reduction, not adsorption-coupled reduction. Second, adsorption mechanism (chemisorption or physisorption) cannot be drawn only based on the best statistical fit between the time-dependent data of adsorption experiment and the kinetic model (i.e., the pseudo-second-order, Elovich, or Avrami model). Third, the constant K_RP (liters per grams of adsorbent not adsorbate; L/g) of the Redlich-Peterson isotherm model is not equal to or used as the thermodynamic equilibrium constant K_Eq^o. The application of the constant K_RP for calculating the thermodynamic parameters of adsorption process (∆G°, ∆H°, and ∆G°) using the van't Hoff equation leads to a certain error in the values (sign and magnitude) of those parameters. Fourth, the pH_PZC of adsorbent is significant different to its pH_IEP on both meanings and analysis methods. The use of those terminologies in the fields of material and sorption (adsorption and absorption) must be correct. Finally, some important information needs to provide in the studies of adsorption isotherm and mechanism (i.e., solution pH) and characteristics of diethyldithiocarbamate intercalated-LDH (i.e., arrangement and orientation of diethyldithiocarbamate in the interlayer region of DDTC-LDH).

Adsorption mechanism of hexavalent chromium onto layered double hydroxides-based adsorbents: A systematic in-depth review

An attempt has been made in this review to provide some insights into the possible adsorption mechanisms of hexavalent chromium onto layered double hydroxides-based adsorbents by critically examining the past and present literature. Layered double hydroxides (LDH) nanomaterials are typical dual-electronic adsorbents because they exhibit positively charged external surfaces and abundant interlayer anions. A high positive zeta potential value indicates that LDH has a high affinity to Cr(VI) anions in solution through electrostatic attraction. The host interlayer anions (i.e., Cl^-, NO₃^-, SO₄^2-, and CO₃^2-) provide a high anion exchange capacity (53-520 meq/100 g) which is expected to have an excellent exchangeable capacity to Cr(VI) oxyanions in water. Regarding the adsorption-coupled reduction mechanism, when Cr(VI) anions make contact with the electron-donor groups in the LDH, they are partly reduced to Cr(III) cations. The reduced Cr(III) cations are then adsorbed by LDH via numerous interactions, such as isomorphic substitution and complexation. Nonetheless, the adsorption-coupled reduction mechanism is greatly dependent on: (1) the nature of divalent and trivalent salts utilized in LDH preparation, and the types of interlayer anions (i.e., guest intercalated organic anions), and (3) the adsorption experiment conditions. The low Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area of LDH (1.80-179 m²/g) suggests that pore filling played an insignificant role in Cr(VI) adsorption. The Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity of LDH (Q^o_max) toward Cr(VI) was significantly affected by the natures of used inorganic salts and synthetic methods of LDH. The Q^o_max values range from 16.3 mg/g to 726 mg/g. Almost all adsorption processes of Cr(VI) by LDH-based adsorbent occur spontaneously (ΔG° <0) and endothermically (ΔH° >0) and increase the randomness (ΔS° >0) in the system. Thus, LDH has much potential as a promising material that can effectively remove anion pollutants, especially Cr(VI) anions in industrial wastewater.