Novel Wastewater Treatment Applications Using Polymeric Materials Edited by Irene S. Fahim, Ahmed K. Badawi and Hossam E. Emam Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Polymers www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers Novel Wastewater Treatment Applications Using Polymeric Materials Novel Wastewater Treatment Applications Using Polymeric Materials Editors IreneS.Fahim AhmedK.Badawi HossamE.Emam MDPI•Basel•Beijing•Wuhan•Barcelona•Belgrade•Manchester•Tokyo•Cluj•Tianjin Editors IreneS.Fahim AhmedK.Badawi HossamE.Emam TheNileUniversity El-MadinaHigherInstitute NationalResearchCentre Egypt forEngineeringand Egypt Technology Egypt EditorialOffice MDPI St.Alban-Anlage66 4052Basel,Switzerland ThisisareprintofarticlesfromtheSpecialIssuepublishedonlineintheopenaccessjournalPolymers (ISSN2073-4360) (availableat: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers/specialissues/Novel WastewaterTreatmentApplicationsUsingPolymericMaterials). 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Contents AbouttheEditors............................................................................................................................................vii StutiJha,RamaGaur,SyedShahabuddin,IrfanAhmadandNanthiniSridewi Kinetic and Isothermal Investigations on the Use of Low Cost Coconut Fiber-Polyaniline CompositesfortheRemovalofChromiumfromWastewater Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,4264,doi:10.3390/polym14204264 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Hamid Najarzadekan, Muhammad Afzal Kamboh, Hassan Sereshti, Irfan Ahmad, Nanthini Sridewi, Syed Shahabuddin and Hamid Rashidi Nodeh Headspace Extraction of Chlorobenzenesfrom Water Using Electrospun Nanofibers Fabricated with Calix[4]arene-Doped Polyurethane–Polysulfone Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,3760,doi:10.3390/polym14183760 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Hamid Najarzadekan, Hassan Sereshti, Irfan Ahmad, Syed Shahabuddin, Hamid Rashidi Nodeh and Nanthini Sridewi Superhydrophobic Nanosilica Decorated Electrospun Polyethylene Terephthalate Nanofibers for Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction of 16 Organochlorine Pesticides in Environmental Water Samples Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,3682,doi:10.3390/polym14173682 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Haniyeh Najafvand Drikvand, Mitra Golgoli, Masoumeh Zargar, Mathias Ulbricht, Siamak Nejati and Yaghoub Mansourpanah Thermo-Responsive Hydrophilic Support for Polyamide Thin-Film Composite Membranes with Competitive Nanofiltration Performance Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,3376,doi:10.3390/polym14163376 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 WafaShamsanAl-Arjan Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles and Their Application in Adsorption of Toxic Dye from Aqueous Solution Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,3086,doi:10.3390/polym14153086 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Noureddine Mahdhi, Norah Salem Alsaiari, Abdelfattah Amari and Mohamed Ali Chakhoum Effect of TiO2 Nanoparticles on Capillary-Driven Flow in Water Nanofilters Based on Chitosan Cellulose and Polyvinylidene Fluoride Nanocomposites: A Theoretical Study Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,2908,doi:10.3390/polym14142908 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 ThanchanokRatvijitvech Fe-ImmobilisedCatechol-BasedHypercrosslinkedPolymerasHeterogeneousFentonCatalyst forDegradationofMethyleneBlueinWater Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,2749,doi:10.3390/polym14132749 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 MajedAlAnazi,IsmailAbdulazeezandOthmanCharlesS.AlHamouz SelectiveRemovalofIron,Lead,andCopperMetalIonsfromIndustrialWastewaterbyaNovel Cross-LinkedCarbazole-PiperazineCopolymer Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,2486,doi:10.3390/polym14122486 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 AlejandroOnchi,CarlosCorona-Garc´ıa,ArletteA.Santiago,MohamedAbatal,TaniaE.Soto, IsmeliAlfonsoandJoelVargas Synthesis and Characterization of Thiol-Functionalized Polynorbornene Dicarboximides for HeavyMetalAdsorptionfromAqueousSolution Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,2344,doi:10.3390/polym14122344 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 v Abdallah Tageldein Mansour, Ahmed E. Alprol, Khamael M. Abualnaja, Hossam S. El-Beltagi, Khaled M. A. Ramadan and Mohamed Ashour Dried Brown Seaweed’s Phytoremediation Potential for Methylene Blue Dye Removal from Aquatic Environments Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,1375,doi:10.3390/polym14071375 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Iram Ayaz, Muhammad Rizwan, Jeffery Layton Ullman, Hajira Haroon, Abdul Qayyum, Naveed Ahmed, Basem H. Elesawy, Ahmad El Askary, Amal F. Gharib and Khadiga Ahmed Ismail Lignocellulosic Based Biochar Adsorbents for the Removal of Fluoride and Arsenic from Aqueous Solution: Isotherm and Kinetic Modeling Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,715,doi:10.3390/polym14040715 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 YuxinChen,YujuanChen,DandanLuandYunrenQiu Synthesis of a Novel Water-Soluble Polymer Complexant Phosphorylated Chitosan for Rare EarthComplexation Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,419,doi:10.3390/polym14030419 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 VairavelParimelazhagan,GauthamJeppuandNakulRampal ContinuousFixed-BedColumnStudiesonCongoRedDyeAdsorption-DesorptionUsingFree andImmobilizedNelumbonuciferaLeafAdsorbent Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,54,doi:10.3390/polym14010054 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 NoufF.Al-Harby,EbtehalF.AlbahlyandNadiaA.Mohamed Kinetics, Isotherm and Thermodynamic Studies for Efficient Adsorption of Congo Red Dye fromAqueousSolutionontoNovelCyanoguanidine-ModifiedChitosanAdsorbent Reprintedfrom:Polymers2021,13,4446,doi:10.3390/polym13244446 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 AdedapoOluwasanuAdeolaandPhiliswaNosizoNomngongo Advanced Polymeric Nanocomposites for Water Treatment Applications: A Holistic Perspective Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,2462,doi:10.3390/polym14122462 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Anton Manakhov, Maxim Orlov, Vyacheslav Grokhovsky, Fahd I. AlGhunaimi and Subhash Ayirala Functionalized Nanomembranes and Plasma Technologies for Produced Water Treatment: A Review Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,1785,doi:10.3390/polym14091785 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 HamadNooriHamadandSyazwaniIdrus RecentDevelopmentsintheApplicationofBio-Waste-DerivedAdsorbentsfortheRemovalof MethyleneBluefromWastewater:AReview Reprintedfrom:Polymers2022,14,783,doi:10.3390/polym14040783 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 vi About the Editors IreneS.Fahim IreneS.FahimisanassociateProfessor, IndustrialandServiceEngineeringandManagement department,NileUniversityCairo,Egypt.Sheistheleaderfortheindustrialandmanufacturingtrack intheSmartEngineeringsystemsresearchcenter,NileUniversity.Shewonthestateencouragement award for women 2021. Irene participated in Fulbright Junior Faculty program for renewable energy,2016andparticipatedinEntrepreneurshipandleadershipProgram,1000Women,Goldman Sachs,2016. ShegotNewtonMosharfainstitutionallinkawardfortwoyearsincollaborationwith Nottingham University, UK. for manufacturing plastic bags from natural materials where she got acknowledgedbyMrPresidentEl-SISIforherworkatthe3rdnationalyouthconferenceinIsmailia, April2017. Ireneisinterestedinstudyingthesustainabilityconceptandshewasaco-authorofa bookentitled“SustainabilityandInnovation”,AUCpress,2015. IreneisavolunteerinIEEESmart Village committee and active member in the organizing committee for IEEE Conferences such as IEEEPowerAfrica2017,whereIreneplanstoextendtheIEEEsmartvillagecommitteeinEgyptto supplysolarelectricityinpoorvillages. SheisalsooneofthemembersintheEventsCommitteeof theIEEEHumanitarianActivities,2018.SheisalsothetechnicalchairforthefirstIEEESIGHTEgypt ideationcamp2018. AhmedK.Badawi Ahmed K. Badawi is an assistant professor in Environmental Engineering (E.E). He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in E.E and was appointed as a university professor at 29 years old. Dr. Karam’sresearchfocusesonmunicipalandindustrialwastewatertreatmentusinginnovative approaches. He has investigated the viability of applying algal–bacterial photo-bioreactors for wastewater treatment in large scale applications. He has also investigated several nano-sized advanced/hybrid materials for industrial wastewater treatment. Dr. Badawi is a specialist in pilot plant design, fabrication, and implementation. He has designed and constructed several pilot plants in different WWTPs and factories. He has published in several high-impact journals (Q1&Q2)andinternationalconferencesandisanactingeditorandrevieweratseveralreputable internationaljournals. Hehaseditedandreviewedover(120)manuscriptsandwasacknowledged asaneditor/reviewerbyseveralinternationaljournals.HehasalsoservedasanactingPI/Co-PIfor manynationalandinternationalfundedgrants. HossamE.Emam HossamE.EmamisaProfessorinDepartmentofPretreatmentandFinishingofCellulosicFibers, TextileResearchDivision,NationalResearchCentre,Giza,Egypt. vii polymers Article Kinetic and Isothermal Investigations on the Use of Low Cost Coconut Fiber-Polyaniline Composites for the Removal of Chromium from Wastewater StutiJha1,RamaGaur1,*,SyedShahabuddin1,*,IrfanAhmad2andNanthiniSridewi3,* 1 DepartmentofChemistry,SchoolofTechnology,PanditDeendayalEnergyUniversity,KnowledgeCorridor, Raysan,Gandhinagar382426,Gujarat,India 2 DepartmentofClinicalLaboratorySciences,CollegeofAppliedMedicalSciences,KingKhalidUniversity, Abha61421,SaudiArabia 3 DepartmentofMaritimeScienceandTechnology,FacultyofDefenceScienceandTechnology,National DefenceUniversityofMalaysia,KualaLumpur57000,Malaysia * Correspondence:[email protected](R.G.);[email protected] [email protected](S.S.);[email protected](N.S.);Tel.:+91-8585932338(S.S.); +60-124-675-320(N.S.) Abstract: Pollutionduetovariousheavymetalsisincreasingatanalarmingrate. Removalof hexavalentchromiumfromtheenvironmentisasignificantandchallengingissueduetoitstoxic effectsontheecosystem. Developmentofalow-costadsorbentwithbetteradsorptionefficiency ispresentlyrequired.Inthisstudy,wastecoconutfibers(CF)wereusedtoprepareitscomposite withpolyaniline(PANI)viain-situoxidation. Theobtainedcompositeswithvaryingloadingof PANI(15,25,50,and75%w/w)werecharacterizedbyFE-SEM,TGA,andFTIRspectroscopy.The Citation:Jha,S.;Gaur,R.; preparedcompositeswereevaluatedfortheiradsorptionperformanceforremovalofCr(VI).It Shahabuddin,S.;Ahmad,I.;Sridewi, wasconcludedthatthecompositewith50%w/wpolyanilineloadingoncoconutfiberexhibiteda N.KineticandIsothermal maximumadsorptionefficiencyof93.11%in30min.TheeffectofpH,dosage,andconcentration InvestigationsontheUseofLow oftheaqueoussolutionofchromiumontheCr(VI)adsorptionefficiencyofthecompositewas CostCoconutFiber-Polyaniline alsostudied.Fromtheoptimizationstudiesitwasobservedthattheabsorbentsexhibitedthebest CompositesfortheRemovalof ChromiumfromWastewater. adsorptionresponseforCr(VI)removalwith0.25mg/mLadsorbentatpH4,in30min.Theeffect Polymers2022,14,4264. https:// ofpH,dosage,andconcentrationoftheaqueoussolutionofchromiumontheCr(VI)adsorption doi.org/10.3390/polym14204264 efficiencyofthecompositewasalsostudied. Thisstudyhighlightstheapplicationoflow-cost adsorbentasapotentialcandidatefortheremovalofhexavalentchromium.Adetailedstudyonthe AcademicEditors:IreneS.Fahim, adsorptionkineticsandisothermalanalysiswasconductedfortheremovalofCr(VI)fromaqueous AhmedK.BadawiandHossam solutionusingcoconutfiber-polyanilinecomposite.Fromthekineticinvestigation,theadsorption E.Emam wasfoundtofollowthepseudosecondordermodel.ThedataobtainedwerebestfittedtotheElovich Received:5September2022 modelconfirmingthechemisorptionoftheCr(VI)oncoconutpolymercomposites.Theanalysisof Accepted:7October2022 theisothermalmodelsindicatedmonolayeradsorptionbasedontheLangmuiradsorptionmodel. Published:11October2022 Publisher’sNote:MDPIstaysneutral Keywords: adsorption; heavy metals; environmental remediation; wastewater; polyaniline; withregardtojurisdictionalclaimsin coconutfiber publishedmapsandinstitutionalaffil- iations. 1.Introduction Heavymetalpollutionisaprimeconcernforthesocietyduetotheirtoxicity,persistent Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. natureandbioaccumulationintheenvironment[1]. Heavymetalsaremetalswithden- Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. sitiesgreaterthan5gm/cm3andatomicnumbersgreaterthan20[2].Suchmetalsposea Thisarticleisanopenaccessarticle seriousthreattohuman,plant,andanimalhealth. Becauseoftheirtoxicity,heavymetal distributed under the terms and removalshouldbeconsidered. Heavymetalsareomnipresentintheenvironment, the conditionsoftheCreativeCommons concentrationofwhichisincreasingduetomoderndayurbanizationandindustrializa- Attribution(CCBY)license(https:// tion[3].HeavymetalsincludeCr,Hg,Pb,Co,Ni,Cu,Zn,Sn,andCd,etc. Chromiumis creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). anaturallyoccurringelementwithvalencyrangingfromIItoVI[4]. Themainoxidation Polymers2022,14,4264.https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14204264 1 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers Polymers2022,14,4264 stateofchromiumisIIIandVI.Whenchromiumisreleasedintotheenvironmentdueto variousactivities,itismainlyinitshexavalentform[5].Thehexavalentstateofchromiumis morestableandmobilethanitstrivalentstate. Cr(VI)isacommoncontaminantinmany environmentalsystemsasitiswidelyusedinvariousprocessessuchasindyesandpig- ments,leathertanning,chromeplating,etc.[6–8].Manymethodsareimplementedforthe removalofheavymetallikeadsorption,electrodialysis,ion-exchange,reverseosmosis,and ultra-filtration,etc.[9–14].Amongallthemethodsusedforheavymetalremediation,adsorp- tionisthemostwidelyadaptedmethod[15].Theadsorptionmethodinvolvesasimpleset upandhashigherperformanceefficiency.Itisaregenerativeandacost-effectivemethod makingitthemostfeasiblemethodforheavymetalremoval[16].Manylow-costadsorbents havebeenusedbyresearchersfortheadsorptionstudyofchromium.Severalstudiesusing agriculturalwastessuchasbananapeels,citruslimettapeels,coconuthusk,potatopeels, palmpressedfibers,andsawdust,etc.asanadsorbentforthetreatmentofchromiumhave beenreported[17–21].However,theirefficiencyislimitedandcanbemodifiedbycombining themwithothersuitablematerials.Thisawakensthenecessityofdevelopmentofnewor modificationofthealreadyusedadsorbentsforeffectiveCr(VI)removal. Recently,conductingpolymershaveattractedalotofattentioninpollutantadsorp- tionduetotheirpropertiessuchasspecialmorphologies,functionalgroupsandsimple syntheticprocedure[22]. Theyhavetheabilitytoremoveheavymetalsthroughcom- plexationandion-exchangemechanism[23].Polyaniline(PANI)isapolymerwhichhas beenexploredinrecentyearsforitspotentialasaheavymetaladsorbent. PANI,acon- ductingpolymerwithterminalamine(–NH2)grouphasexcellentpropertiessuchashigh surfacearea,adjustablesurfacechemistry,desirableporesizedistribution,rigidity,and economicalregeneration[24].ApartfromPANI,PANI-basedcompositeshavealsobeen studiedfortheirapplicationinheavymetaladsorption. PANI-basedcompositesoffer addedadvantagessuchashighersurfacearea,higherdispersibility,enhancedadsorption performance,andcombinedpropertiesofthepolymerandthesubstrate[22,25]. Dutta etal. (2021)synthesizedpolyaniline-polypyrrolecopolymercoatedgreenricehuskash andinvestigateditspotentialforCr(VI)removal[26]. PANI-jutefiberwassynthesized byKumaretal.(2008)forremovalofhexavalentchromiumfromwastewater[27].PANI- magneticmesoporessilicacompositewasusedanadsorbentforchromiumadsorptionby Tangetal. (2014)[28].HexavalentchromiumwasadsorbedonthesurfaceofPANI-rice husknanocompositebyGhorbanietal. (2011)[29]. Leietal. hasreportedtheuseof PANI-magneticchitosancompositefortheremovalofhexavalentchromium[30].Rahmi etal. reportedtheuseofusingchitosanbasedcompositeschitosanfortheremovalof Cd(II)fromitsaqueoussolution[31,32].Cr(VI)wasadsorbedusinggelatinecomposites inastudyreportedbyMarcianoetal.[33]. Fromtheliteraturereview,itwasinferred thatallthesimilarstudieshaveeitherreportedtheuseoflargeamountofadsorbents (1to125g/L)fortheremovalofcontaminantsoramoretimeconsumingprocess(up to5to6h). Inaddition,theremovalefficiencyisalsolessincomparisontothepresent study.Thus,itwasobservedthatthepresentstudyofferscertainadvantagessuchasusing low-costadsorbent,lessadsorbentdosage,andhighefficiencyinlesstime.Inthisstudy, coconutfibershavebeenusedasasubstrateandPANIhasbeendispersedonitssurface usingin-situpolymerization.Agriculturalwastesuchascoconutfiberhasadvantagesover othersubstratessuchasbeingeasycollectableandavailablewithlessornocost.Moreover, itinvolvessimpleprocessingsteps(washing,drying,sieving)andthusreducesenergyand productioncost.ThisstudyaimstofocusonthesynthesisofPANI-coconutfiberandits applicationforCr(VI)removal.ItalsoreportstheeffectofvariousparameterssuchaspH, adsorbentdosageandconcentrationofCrontheadsorptioncapacityofthecomposite.A detailedinvestigationonthekineticaspectsandadsorptionisothermhasbeenperformed. 2 Polymers2022,14,4264 2.MaterialsandMethods 2.1.Materials Inthisstudy,coconutshellswerecollectedfromthelocalmarketofGandhinagar, Gujarat,India.Potassiumdichromate(K2Cr2O7)(SRL(Ahemdabad,Gujarat,India)AR grade,extrapure,99.9%)wasusedasthesourceofCr(VI).Anilineusedinthisprocesswas purifiedusingdistillationprocessprioruse.Allthechemicalsusedforthepreparationof compositesincludinganiline,ammoniumpersulfate(APS)(SigmaAldrich(Ahemdabad, Gujarat,India),reagentgrade,98%),HCl(Finar(Ahemdabad,Gujarat,India),ARgrade, 37%purity)wereusedasreceived.Allthedilutionsperformedinthisstudywerecarried outusingmilliporewater. 2.1.1.Pre-TreatmentofCoconutFibers Thecollectedcoconutshellswereseparatedintococonutfibers(CF)andwashedto removedirt. Thecoconutfiberswerethendriedundershade. Thedriedcoconutfibers werecutintopiecesbeforegrindingthemtomakeafinepowder.Theobtainedcoconut fiberpowderwassievedtoobtainparticlesofuniformsize(≤75microns). 2.1.2.SynthesisofPolyaniline(PANI)andPolyaniline-CoconutFiber(PANI-CF) Composites Thecompositeswerepreparedwithdifferentw/w%loadingofPANIonCF.PANI waspreparedbyin-situoxidationmethod. Forthisprocess,asolutionofanilinein1M HClwasprepared.Anothersolutionofammoniumpersulphate(APS)dissolvedin1M HClwasaddeddropwisewithconstantstirringfor2–3h.Thereactiontemperaturewas ◦ maintainedbetween0to5 C.Subsequently,thereactionmixturewasfilteredandwashed with0.5MHCluntilthefiltratebecamecolorlessandthenwithdeionizedwateruntil ◦ thefiltratebecameneutral.Then,theobtainedPANIwasdriedinvacuumovenat80 C overnight.ThecompositeswithvaryingloadingofPANIwerepreparedusingasimilar approach.TheschematicflowofboththeprocessesisshowninFigureS1a,b(Supplemen- taryMaterials). ThedigitalimagesofthepreparedcompositesareshowninFigureS1c (SupplementaryMaterials). Compositeswerepreparedwithdifferentw/w%loadingofPANI.Thesampleswere codedasCFC15,CFC25,CFC50andCFC75for15%,25%,50%and75%PANI,respectively. Forpreparationofallthecomposites,thestartingweightofCFwaskept0.5gmandthe weightofPANIwasvaried.RestallstepsweresimilartothesynthesisofPANI.Depending onthecompositionofPANI,thepreparedsampleswerenamedCFC15,CFC25,CFC50, andCFC75aslistedinTable1. Table1.Nomenclatureandstartingweightofthereagentsforthepreparationofcomposites. Weightof SampleCode CF(gm) WeightofPANI(gm) WeightofAPS(gm) Product(gm) CFC15 0.5 0.075 0.231 0.34 CFC25 0.5 0.15 1.54 0.36 CFC50 0.5 0.5 1.54 0.81 CFC75 0.5 1.5 4.63 1.25 3.Characterization Allthesamplesinthepresentstudywereanalyzedfortheirfunctionalgroups,mor- phologyandthermalstabilityusingdifferentcharacterizationtechniquessuchasFourier- transforminfraredspectroscopy(FT-IR),FieldEmission-ScanningElectronMicroscopy(FE- SEM),andThermalgravimetricanalyzer(TGA).TheFouriertransform-infraredspectraof thesampleswererecordedusingFT-IRspectrometerPerkinElmer(Mumbai,Maharashtra, India),spectrum2modelinATRmodeinascanrangeof400to4000cm−1.TheFE-SEM imagesofthesamplesweretakeninZeissultra55model(Bangalore,Karnataka,India) 3