Theses and Dissertations

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5233-7452

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Hassan, El Barbary

Committee Member

Street, Jason Tyler

Committee Member

Kim, Yunsang

Committee Member

Mlsna, Todd

Date of Degree

5-10-2024

Original embargo terms

Visible MSU only 6 month

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Forest Resources (Sustainable Bioproducts)

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Forest Resources

Department

Department of Sustainable Bioproducts

Abstract

Water availability is presently under risk owing to the increased discharge of pollutants from both industrial and residential properties. A distinct category of pollutants known as "emerging contaminants" (ECs), whose hazards were either unknown before they were noticed, e.g., antibiotics, dyes, PFAS, etc. Most of the ECs are unregulated and pose a threat to aquatic and human life at even low doses. Our water treatment facilities are not designed to efficiently eliminate these toxic substances. Therefore, we need an economical tertiary treatment approach. Adsorptionis a sustainable, cost effective and simple technique, making it a viable technique for pollutants elimination on a worldwide scale. The removal of these ECs has been made possible by several commercially available adsorbents, however most of them are expensive. Adsorbents fabrication using, agricultural wastes is an effective waste management technique that helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions via carbon sequestration. The adsorption capability of adsorbents can be enhanced by further modification of its properties. This research study focuses on conversion of biomass into environmentally friendly adsorbents including biochar and nanocellulose aerogel. In the first study, a natural mineral dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) modified biochar was fabricated from rice husk and used to remove anionic reactive dyes, Remazol Brilliant Blue (RBB) and Reactive Black 5 (RB-5) from synthetic wastewater. In the second study, a sustainable aminated/TEMPO cellulose nanofiber (Am/TEMPO-CNF) aerogel was fabricated and used to treat oxytetracycline (OTC) and chloramphenicol (CAP) contaminated water. The physiochemical properties of all adsorbents were studied using FTIR, SEM, TGA, elemental analyzer and N2 adsorption-desorption isothermal analyses. The contaminants were quantified using Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) before and after the experiments. Kinetics, isothermal and thermodynamics modeling was applied to analyze the adsorption behavior and mechanism. In the third investigation, a novel In-situ UiO-66-NH2/TOCNF adsorbent was employed to remove the anionic azo dyes Orange II (ORII) and Congo Red (CR) from synthetic wastewater. We also looked at how pH, time, and initial concentration impacted CR and ORII adsorption. Research was conducted to assess the stability and adsorption potential under various situations by thermodynamics and regeneration.

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