Adsorption of LDH modified pulp fibres

Abstract

The adsorption capacity of modified pulps fibres was studied. This material is made up by pulp fibres and a material known as layered double hydroxide (LDH). Different sort of pulps were studied, the main difference between the studied pulps were the concentration of LDH and the presence of carbonated groups. In this experiment five different sort of pulps with different concentration of LDH and even without any presence of LDH were used to measure the adsorption properties of each pulp. LDH has excellent properties which make this material very attractive. Pulps fibre acts like a carrier of the LDH while LDH acts like an adsorption material. Different experiments were done to find out which modified fibre is better for this purpose. Each modified fibre is supposed to remove some amount of certain pollutants from the wastewater. Different solutions of Metanil Yellow were used emulating wastewaters. Modified LDH pulps were mixed with Metanil Yellow in specific conditions. Those fibres which contain LDH are able to adsorb a larger amount of Metanil Yellow than those which do not have presence of LDH. Also the initial concentration of carbonated groups has influence on the response of the modified pulps. The fibre which does not have any initial amount of carbonates showed the highest adsorption result. The fibres whose concentration of LDH is higher show a higher adsorption that those whose LDH concentration is lower. Fibres without any LDH are not able to adsorb any amount of mentail yellow.