Luisa-Maria Trifas

Bio: Luisa-Maria Trifas is an academic researcher from Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department. The author has contributed to research in topics: Langmuir adsorption model & Adsorption. The author has co-authored 1 publications.

Removal of Toxic Copper Ion from Aqueous Media by Adsorption on Fly Ash-Derived Zeolites: Kinetic and Equilibrium Studies.

Abstract: This study investigated the adsorption capacity of one material based on the treatment of fly ash with sodium hydroxide as a novel adsorbent for toxic Cu2+ ion removal from aqueous media. The adsorbent was obtained through direct activation of fly ash with 2M NaOH at 90 °C and 6 h of contact time. The adsorbent was characterized by recognized techniques for solid samples. The influence of adsorption parameters such as adsorbent dose, copper initial concentration and contact time was analyzed in order to establish the best adsorption conditions. The results revealed that the Langmuir model fitted with the copper adsorption data. The maximum copper adsorption capacity was 53.5 mg/g. The adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The results indicated that the mechanism of adsorption was chemisorption. The results also showed the copper ion removal efficiencies of the synthesized adsorbents. The proposed procedure is an innovative and economical method, which can be used for toxicity reduction by capitalizing on abundant solid waste and treatment wastewater.

Recent advances in removal of Congo Red dye by adsorption using an industrial waste

Abstract: The Congo Red dye was removed from a simulated textile wastewater solution using fly ash from a local power plant. The characterisation of fly ash was studied in detail by SEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR, BET surface area and TGA techniques. The influence of four parameters (contact time, initial concentration, adsorbent dose, and temperature) was analysed, the results showing that the adsorption capacity depends on these parameters. Thermodynamic and regeneration investigations as well are presented. The fit to pseudo-second-order kinetics models suggests that the removal process is a chemical adsorption. The Langmuir model fitted the experimental data, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 22.12 mg/g. The research is a preliminary case study that highlights that fly ash posed a very good potential as a material for Congo Red dye removal.

Emerging waste-to-wealth applications of fly ash for environmental remediation: A review.

Abstract: The considerable increase in world energy consumption owing to rising global population, intercontinental transportation and industrialization has posed numerous environmental concerns. Particularly, in order to meet the required electricity supply, thermal power plants for electricity generation are widely used in many countries. However, an annually excessive quantity of waste fly ash up to 1 billion tones was globally discarded from the combustion of various carbon-containing feedstocks in thermoelectricity plants. About half of the industrially generated fly ash is dumped into landfills and hence causing soil and water contamination. Nonetheless, fly ash still contains many valuable components and possesses outstanding physicochemical properties. Utilizing waste fly ash for producing value-added products has gained significant interests. Therefore, in this work, we reviewed the current implementation of fly ash-derived materials, namely, zeolite and geopolymer as efficient adsorbents for the environmental treatment of flue gas and polluted water. Additionally, the usage of fly ash as a catalyst support for the photodegradation of organic pollutants and reforming processes for the corresponding wastewater remediation and H2 energy generation is thoroughly covered. In comparison with conventional carbon-based adsorbents, fly ash-derived geopolymer and zeolite materials reportedly exhibited greater heavy metal ions removal and reached the maximum adsorption capacity of about 150 mg g-1. As a support for biogas reforming process, fly ash could enhance the activity of Ni catalyst with 96% and 97% of CO2 and CH4 conversions, respectively.

Using Fly Ash Wastes for the Development of New Building Materials with Improved Compressive Strength

Abstract: Fly ash wastes (silica, aluminum and iron-rich materials) could be smartly valorized by their incorporation in concrete formulation, partly replacing the cement. The necessary binding properties can be accomplished by a simple procedure: an alkali activation process, involving partial hydrolysis, followed by gel formation and polycondensation. The correlations between the experimental fly ash processing conditions, particle characteristics (size and morphology) and the compressive strength values of the concrete prepared using this material were investigated by performing a parametric optimization study to deduce the optimal processing set of conditions. The alkali activation procedure included the variation of the NaOH solutions concentration (8–12 M), temperature values (25–65 °C) and the liquid/solid ratio (1–3). The activation led to important modifications of the crystallography of the samples (shown by powder XRD analysis), their morphologies (seen by SEM), particle size distribution and Blaine surface values. The values of the compressive strength of concrete prepared using fly ash derivatives were between 16.8–22.6 MPa. Thus, the processed fly ash qualifies as a proper potential building material, solving disposal-associated problems, as well as saving significant amounts of cement consumed in concrete formulation.

Development, characterization, and performance analysis of shape‐stabilized phase change material included‐geopolymer for passive thermal management of buildings

Abstract: The cooperation between phase change materials (PCMs) and geopolymer (GP) is energy‐efficient way for improving the thermal performance of construction materials. This study discusses the effect of PCM combination with GP matrix on obtained concretes' mechanical and thermal properties. Attapulgite/lauric‐capric acid eutectic mixture (ATP/LCEM) composite was fabricated as shape‐stable composite phase change material (SSPCM) and then integrated with GP concrete (GPC) for improvement of the thermal mass of buildings. Thermal, mechanical, physical, morphological, thermal energy storage (TES) characteristics, and solar thermoregulation performances of the developed GPC‐SSPCMs were experimentally characterized. The compressive strength was found over 6 MPa for GPC without aggregates (only SSPCM). The compressive and flexural strengths were relatively low, but above the requirements of the current standards. Other properties as thermal conductivity and solar performance make the produced GPC‐SSPCMs promising materials for advanced TES applications in buildings. The apparent porosity was around 45% for GPC‐SSPCM‐50 and 63% for GPC‐SSPCM‐100, while water adsorption around 21% for GPC‐SSPCM‐50 and 30% for GPC‐SSPCM‐100. Thermal conductivity values of 0.375 W/mK for GPC without aggregates recommended this material as an insulator. The produced SSPCM composite melts at 19.00°C with corresponding latent heat of 73.9 J/g, while the GPC‐SSPCM melts at 18.30°C with corresponding latent heat of 6.57 J/g. Based on the obtained outcomes, the energy‐saving was determined as 5.56 kWh, which is corresponding to the CO2 saving of 15 kg‐CO2, 14.68 kg‐CO2, and 2.41 kg‐CO2 in case of using coal, natural gas, or electricity, respectively as energy source.

A Carbonized Zeolite/Chitosan Composite as an Adsorbent for Copper (II) and Chromium (VI) Removal from Water

Abstract: To address Cu(II) and Cr(VI) water pollution, a carbonized zeolite/chitosan (C-ZLCH) composite adsorbent was produced via pyrolysis at 500 °C for two hours. C-ZLCH was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and zeta potential measurements. The batch experiments were performed by varying the initial pH, concentration, and contact time. The optimal pH values for Cu(II) and Cr(VI) were 8.1 and 9.6, respectively. The highest adsorption capacities for Cu(II) and Cr(VI) were 111.35 mg/g at 60 min and 104.75 mg/g at 90 min, respectively. The effects of chemicals such as sodium (Na+), glucose, ammonium (NH4+), and acid red 88 (AR88) were also studied. Statistical analysis showed that sodium had no significant effect on Cu(II) removal, in contrast to Cr(VI) removal. However, there was a significant effect of the presence of glucose, ammonium, and AR88 on both Cu(II) and Cr(VI) removal. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic models were fitted using Langmuir and pseudo-second-order models for Cu(II) and Cr(VI), respectively.