Determination of Concentration of Various Phases in Activated and Dye Treated Sewage Sludge Samples using Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction

Abstract

Sludge sample collected from sewage treatment plant was used to develop an effective adsorbent for the removal of various dyes from wastewater. A quantitative estimation of major compounds in without activated (as collected), activated and various dyes treated sludge samples using synchrotron XRD technique is reported. Sewage sludge sample activated at 900 ºC for 30 min was found to have maximum adsorption efficiency (~ 95%) for the removal of different dyes (e.g. brilliant green, crystal violet and malachite green) from aqueous solution. The result shows that the adsorption using activated sewage sludge is the simplest and effective method for the removal of dyes from wastewater. As expected, the major compound in all the samples is SiO2 (~ 50 mol%). However, SiO2 was found in three different space groups. On activation at 900 ºC, a part of monoclinic SiO2 phase changes to the hexagonal phase. On the other hand, on various dyes adsorption such as brilliant green, crystal violet and malachite green, the monoclinic phase changes to the tetragonal phase.