Removal of Methylene Blue by Metal Oxides Supported by Oily Sludge Pyrolysis Residues

Abstract

As a typical pollutant, methylene blue poses a serious threat to the environment and human health. Oily sludge pyrolysis residue loaded with metal oxides could be used to prepare composite materials, which is not only an effective way to treat oily sludge, but also a possible method to treat methylene blue pollutants. In this paper, composite materials (AC-CuO, AC-ZnO, and AC-TiO2) were prepared by oily sludge pyrolysis residue-loaded CuO, ZnO, and TiO2 directly, and characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, BET, FT-IR, and XPS, and it was shown that the metal oxides were successfully supported on the pyrolysis residue. Then, the composite materials were applied to the removal of methylene blue solution. The removal effect of composite materials on methylene blue with respect to the impregnation time, impregnation ratio and dosage, and the contact time and number of regenerations were investigated, and the removal parameters were optimized by response surface methodology. The removal process for methylene blue was described by applying Lagergren, McKay, Langmuir isotherm, Freundlish isotherm and intraparticle diffusion models. According to the response surface methodology and the main factors affecting the removal effect of methylene blue, the results indicate that the removal effect of 5 mg/L methylene blue could reach 95.28%, 94.95%, and 96.96%, respectively, and the corresponding removal capacities were 4.76, 4.75, and 4.85 mg/g. In addition, kinetic studies showed that the removal process of methylene blue was mainly constituted by chemical adsorption. The intraparticle diffusion showed that the removal of methylene blue may be controlled by both liquid film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion. The isotherms showed that the adsorption sites of composites for methylene blue were uniformly distributed and had the same affinity. Furthermore, regeneration experiments showed that the composite materials were stable and had relatively reusability.