Steam activation,characterisation and adsorption studies of activated carbon from maize tassels

In this paper, steam-produced activated carbon (STAC) from maize tassel (MT) was evaluated for its ability to remove basic dye (methylene blue MB) from aqueous solution in a batch adsorption process. The equilibrium experiments were conducted in the range of 50–300 mg/L initial MB concentrations at 30°C, for effect of pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time. The experimental data were analysed by Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models of adsorption. Freundlich adsorption isotherm was found to have highest value of R²(R²=0.97) compared to other models of Langmuir and Temkin having (0.96 and 0.95 respectively). STAC has a high adsorptive capacity for MB dye (200 mg/g) and also showed favourable adsorption for the dye with the separation factor (R_L<1) for the dye-activated carbon system. The kinetic data obtained were analysed using pseudo first-order kinetic equation and pseudo second-order kinetic equation. The experimental data fitted well into pseudo second-order kinetic equation, as demonstrated by the high value of R².     

Biosorption of Cr(III) from aqueous solution by freeze-dried activated sludge: Equilibrium,kinetic and thermodynamic studies

Batch biosorption experiments were conducted to remove Cr(III) from aqueous solutions using activated sludge from a sewage treatment plant. An investigation was conducted on the effects of the initial pH, contact time, temperature, and initial Cr(III) concentration in the biosorption process. The results revealed that the activated sludge exhibited the highest Cr(III) uptake capacity (120 mg·g⁻¹) at 45°C, initial pH of 4, and initial Cr(III) concentration of 100 mg·L⁻¹. The biosorption results obtained at various temperatures showed that the biosorption pattern accurately followed the Langmuir model. The calculated thermodynamic parameters, ΔG^o (−0.8– −4.58 kJ·mol⁻¹), ΔH^o (15.6–44.4 kJ·mol⁻¹), and ΔS^o (0.06–0.15 kJ·mol⁻¹·K⁻¹) clearly indicated that the biosorption process was feasible, spontaneous, endothermic, and physical. The pseudo first-order and second-order kinetic models were adopted to describe the experimental data, which revealed that the Cr(III) biosorption process conformed to the second-order rate expression and the biosorption rate constants decreased with increasing Cr(III) concentration. The analysis of the values of biosorption activation energy (E_a = −7 kJ·mol⁻¹) and the intra-particle diffusion model demonstrated that Cr(III) biosorption was film-diffusion-controlled.     

氮添加对侵蚀退化红壤化学性质及芒萁叶功能性状的影响

蕨类植物芒萁(Dicranopteris dichotoma)是我国南方红壤侵蚀区重要的水土保持植物,但目前氮添加对芒萁叶功能性状及其基部土壤化学性质以及这二者之间关系的影响尚不清楚.以芒萁作为研究对象,采用盆栽实验,设置CK(0 g m-2 a-1)、N1(1.1 g m-2 a-1)、N2(2.3 g m-2 a-...