Response surface methodology as a powerful tool to optimize the synthesis of polymer-based

graphene oxide nanocomposites for simultaneous removal of cationic and anionic heavy metal
contaminants

Author: Perez et al (2017)

1. Cr(VI) and Cu(II), mostly from mining and electroplating industry, are non-biodegradable and
tend to accumulate in living organisms
2. Adsorption is preferred because of:
 Low initial cost
 Flexibility
 Simplicity of design
 Ease of operation
 Minimal sludge production
3. Adsorbent with high capacity and fast adsorption is preferred
4. GO as adsorbent
 has good adsorption capabilities because of its large surface area and numerous oxygen
containing functional groups (attracts cations)
 hydrophilic and very small, cannot be separated from water easily (problem in
wastewater treatment)
 can be incorporated to polymer networks to produce polymer nanocomposites,
improving adsorption capability and widening the range of target pollutants
5. Chitosan as an adsorbent/biosorbent
 low cost, hydrophilicity, biodegradability, and antimicrobial properties
 contains amine (form complex reactions with cations, and consequently attracts anions
electrostatically) and hydroxyl functional groups
 has poor mechanical strength and is unstable, limiting its practical applications
 can be modified through gel-to-bead formation, reaction with cross-linking agents, and
incorporation of nanomaterials (such as GO): improved strength and adsorption of
cations
 reaction with glutaraldehyde (GLA), formaldehyde, or epichlorohydrin (ECH) makes it
insoluble and applicable to acidic conditions
 since cross-linking agents reacts with amine groups, polymers are incorporated to
compensate for lost adsorption sites
6. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) as polymer-based adsorbent
 Contains primary and secondary amines for adsorbing cations
 Easily protonated, attracts anions
7. Incorporation of PEI and GO to the chitosan matrix for the first time to bind Cr(VI) and Cu(II)
8. Optimum composition of the beads for maximum heavy metal removal was determined using
response surface methodology (RSM)
9. RSM evaluates the relationship between different compositions and responses, while
considering the interaction among independent variables
Polyethyleneimine-functionalized pyroxene nanoparticles embedded on Diatomite for adsorptive
removal of dye from textile wastewater in a fixed-bed column

Author: Nassar et al (2017)

AC have been recently replaced with adsorbents of higher adsorption affinity for various types of
pollutants

AC has pore disordered structure resulting to slow adsorption kinetics and low adsorption capacity for
large molecules

Best adsorbent type was selected based on long period time of breakthrough

Influence of bed depth, inlet concentration, flow rate, and concentration of embedded nanoparticles
were then investigated using the best adsorbent

Breakthroguh time is arbitrarily chosen when the effluent concentration approaches 5% of influent
adsorbate concentration