Novel Alginate/Bentonite Hydrogels: Application in Wastewater Remediation

M.D. NINAGO; M.M.S. LENCINA; M.F. HORST; V. LASALLE; M.A. VILLAR

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Workshop; II Workshop on Bio-degradable Polymers and Biocomposites y III Workshop BIOPURFIL, Bio-based Polyurethane Composites with Natural Fillers; 2015

Facultad de Ingeniería, UBA

The use of bentonite for heavy metal and organic dyes removal in water system is an economical and highly efficient alternative against the usually applied purification methods. However, during the post-treatment stage two important limitations are found: (I) upon contact with water, bentonite swells and forms highly stable colloidal suspensions, being difficult to separate from the aqueous system and (II), their suspensions clogged filtration columns hindering water from flowing through. Immobilization of clay sorbents is the approach adopted to mitigate clogging and post-treatment separation problems. In this work, we report the use of calcium alginate hydrogels with and without enological bentonite for water remediation. In this case, cadmium (Cd(II)), a toxic heavy metal, was selected as a model contaminant. This research includes the characterization of final materials as well as the analysis of their adsorption behavior. Regarding to the adsorption performance of Alg and Alg/BN very promissory results were achieved. The efficiency of Cd removal was almost 60 % of available metal ion in the aqueous solution.