Journal of Natural Environment

Removal of chromium from aqueous solutions by activated carbon produced of cigarette butts

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 1 Department of Textile and polymer Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 department of polymer & textile engineering, south Tehran branch. Islamic Azad university

3 Department of Environmental Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Textile Engineering, Yazd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran

Abstract

Today, due to the extensive consumption of cigarettes and the presence of cigarette butts in the environment as non-degenerative waste, collecting and converting them into a consumable is essential. Therefore, converting cigarette butts to activated carbon can be a win-win strategy for the environment. Because safe drinking water is a vital factor in the survival of communities, the presence of chromium, as a heavy metal, in the water can be very dangerous. Today, the use of activated carbon is one of the most common methods for removing chromium from water. The present study aimed at determination of the effectiveness of activated carbon produced by cigarette butts in removing hexavalent chromium from aqueous solutions. In this study, NaOH chemical activation was utilized and BET and SEM tests were used to determine the specific area. The effect of pH, adsorption value, reaction time, initial chromium concentration and temperature for chromium removal were investigated and the adsorption rate was determined using atomic adsorption device. The results showed that pre-treatment with NaOH and increasing its concentration led to an increase in the specific surface area of activated carbon. Absorption tests showed that the highest adsorption efficiency was observed at pH 2, 7 g/l of adsorbent, time of 60 min, initial chromium concentration of 50 mg/l and temperature of 25°C. The results showed that adsorption followed the Langmuir isotherm, and the quasi-first order equation is suitable for experimental data. The thermodynamic analysis of the adsorbent showed that the reaction is spontaneous and exothermal. This study showed that cellulose acetate fibers in cigarette filters can be a suitable material in carbonization operations to produce activated carbon with a specific surface area of about 1000 m2/g, which can be used to remove chromium from water.

Keywords

Budinova, T.K., Petrov, N.V., Minkova, V.N. and Gergova, K.M., 1994. Removal of metal ions from aqueous solution by activated carbons obtained from different raw materials. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology: International Research in Process, Environmental AND Clean Technology, 60-2-, pp.177-182.
Dada, A.O., Olalekan, A.P., Olatunya, A.M. and Dada, O.J.I.J.C., 2012. Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherms studies of equilibrium sorption of Zn2+ unto phosphoric acid modified rice husk. IOSR Journal of Applied Chemistry, 3-1-, pp.38-45.
Deng, H., Yang, L., Tao, G. and Dai, J., 2009. Preparation and characterization of activated carbon from cotton stalk by microwave assisted chemical activation—application in methylene blue adsorption from aqueous solution. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 166”2-3”, pp.1514-1521.
Dias, J.M., Alvim-Ferraz, M.C., Almeida, M.F., Rivera-Utrilla, J. and Sánchez-Polo, M., 2007. Waste materials for activated carbon preparation and its use in aqueous-phase treatment: a review. Journal of environmental management, 85-4-, pp.833-846.
Fazlzadeh, M., Khosravi, R. and Zarei, A., 2017. Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using Peganum harmala seed extract, and loaded on Peganum harmala seed powdered activated carbon as new adsorbent for removal of Cr –VI- from aqueous solution. Ecological Engineering, 103, pp.180-190.
Garg, K., Rawat, P. and Prasad, B., 2015. Removal of Cr –VI- and COD from electroplating wastewater by corncob based activated carbon. Int J Water Wastewater Treat, 1.
Gong, K., Hu, Q., Yao, L., Li, M., Sun, D., Shao, Q., Qiu, B. and Guo, Z., 2018. Ultrasonic pretreated sludge derived stable magnetic active carbon for Cr –VI- removal from wastewater. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 6-6-, pp.7283-7291.
Gupta, V.K., Ali, I., Saleh, T.A., Siddiqui, M.N. and Agarwal, S., 2013. Chromium removal from water by activated carbon developed from waste rubber tires. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 20-3-, pp.1261-1268.
Hasnat, M.A. and Rahman, M.A., 2018. A review paper on the hazardous effect of plastic debris on marine biodiversity with some possible remedies. Asian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 4-3-, pp.233-241.
Hua, M., Zhang, S., Pan, B., Zhang, W., Lv, L. and Zhang, Q., 2012. Heavy metal removal from water/wastewater by nanosized metal oxides: a review. Journal of hazardous materials, 211, pp.317-331.
Inyang, M.I., Gao, B., Yao, Y., Xue, Y., Zimmerman, A., Mosa, A., Pullammanappallil, P., Ok, Y.S. and Cao, X., 2016. A review of biochar as a low-cost adsorbent for aqueous heavy metal removal. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 46-4-, pp.406-433.
Koochaki, C.B., Khajavi, R., Rashidi, A., Mansouri, N. and Yazdanshenas, M.E., 2019. The effect of pre-swelling on the characteristics of obtained activated carbon from cigarette butts fibers. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, pp.1-10.
Liu, X., Huang, L., Wang, L., Wang, C., Wu, X., Dong, G. and Liu, Y., 2018. Preparation, adsorptive properties and chemical regeneration studies of high-porous activated carbon derived from Platanus orientalis leaves for Cr –VI- removal. Journal of water and health, 16-5-, pp.814-826.
Marah, M. and Novotny, T.E., 2011. Geographic patterns of cigarette butt waste in the urban environment. Tobacco control, 20. Suppl 1., pp. i42-i44.
Mohan, D., Singh, K.P. and Singh, V.K., 2006. Trivalent chromium removal from wastewater using low cost activated carbon derived from agricultural waste material and activated carbon fabric cloth. Journal of hazardous materials, 135”1-3”, pp.280-295.
Novotny, T.E., Lum, K., Smith, E., Wang, V. and Barnes, R., 2009. Cigarettes butts and the case for an environmental policy on hazardous cigarette waste. International journal of environmental research and public health, 6-5-, pp.1691-1705.
 Owlad, M., Aroua, M.K. and Daud, W.M.A.W., 2010. Hexavalent chromium adsorption on impregnated palm shell activated carbon with polyethyleneimine. Bioresource technology, 101-14-, pp.5098-5103.
Robertson, R.M., Thomas, W.C., Suthar, J.N. and Brown, D.M., 2012. Accelerated degradation of cellulose acetate cigarette filters using controlled-release acid catalysis. Green Chemistry, 14-8-, pp.2266-2272.
Soltani SM, Yazdi SK, Hosseini S., 2014. Effects of pyrolysis conditions on the porous structure construction of mesoporous charred carbon from used cigarette filters. Applied Nanoscience 1;4-5-:551-69.
 Wongsasuluk, P., Chotpantarat, S., Siriwong, W. and Robson, M., 2014. Heavy metal contamination and human health risk assessment in drinking water from shallow groundwater wells in an agricultural area in Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand. Environmental geochemistry and health, 36-1-, pp.169-182.
Zhao, H., Xia, B., Fan, C., Zhao, P. and Shen, S., 2012. Human health risk from soil heavy metal contamination under different land uses near Dabaoshan Mine, Southern China. Science of the Total Environment, 417, pp.45-54.
Zou, Y., Wang, X., Khan, A., Wang, P., Liu, Y., Alsaedi, A., Hayat, T. and Wang, X., 2016. Environmental remediation and application of nanoscale zero-valent iron and its composites for the removal of heavy metal ions: a review. Environmental science & technology, 50-14-, pp.7290-7304.
Journal of Natural Environment
Volume 73, Issue 4
March 2021
Pages 791-804