Obtenção de fotocatalisadores magnéticos a partir de resíduos industriais e TiO2 para a degradação de contaminantes orgânicos

In this work, magnetic photocatalysts were synthesized containing differents levels of TiO2 (40, 60 e 80%) supported at the supporter of C/LV, forming the photocatalysts 40, 60, 80Ti/C/LV, using tar pitch as carbon (C) source and red mud (LV) as iron source. The prepared magnetic photocatalysts and TiO2 were used to degrade the Remazol Black textile dye (PR5) and the organic material present in samples of a textile dye effluent. The characterization of photocatalysts by Raman, X-Ray Diffraction, Transmission Electron Micoscope and Scanning, Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry, Termogravimetry and Elemental Analysis, confirms the presence of carbon and magnetite in support C/LV and the presence of TiO2 in prepared photocatalysts. The photocatalytic reactions with TiO2 were analyzed by different experimental conditions, such as: mass of TiO2 (30-240 mg), solution pH (2-10), light intensity (0.871 and 1.20 mWcm-2), type of radiation (UV and sunlight-1.420 mWcm-2), radiation incidence area (44.2 to 143.1 cm2) and dissolved oxygen (OD, 1.9 and 7.6 mg L- 1). Results showed that reactions with the following conditions: 220 mg of TiO2, pH 10, solar radiation, 7.6 mg L-1 of OD and an incidence area of radiation of 143.1 cm2 showed the best results for degradation of PR5 dye. Photocatalytic reactions with magnetic photocatalysts for degrading PR5 shows that efficiency increases with TiO2 content in the C/LV support, where, above 60% of TiO2, there was not significant increase in reaction velocity. In addition, solar radiation has proved to be advantageous for photocatalytic reactions. In order to verify the presence of a non-magnetic fraction in the photocatalyst 60Ti/C/LV0, magnetic separation was proceeded. The characterizations of the magnetic (FM) and nonmagnetic (NMF) fraction confirmed that about 25% of TiO2 did not fixed in 60Ti/C/LV photocatalyst. Results of photocatalytic reactions with FM and FNM showed that both phases have photocatalytic activity for degradation of PR5. The reactions executed for the degradation of organic matter present in the actual sample of textile effluent showed that TiO2 and magnetic photocatalyst 60Ti/C/ LV have better results for color removal (85 to 35%), soluble solids ( 11 and 3%), DQO (90 and 86%) and turbidity (94 and 11%) than the treatment done by the textile industry. Sedimentation kinetics tests in presence of a magnet showed that photocatalysts are separated faster from aqueous environment than pure TiO2. Obtained results showed that magnetic photocatalysts have excellent photocatalytic activity and can be separated from the reaction environment on a simple and quick way when a magnetic field is applied.

Recuperação e aplicação do dicromato de potássio proveniente do resíduo de sulfocrômica

A simple procedure for recovering potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7 ) from treatment of residual sulphochromic solution was proposed in the present work by means of cooling crystallization. The decrease of temperature favored the crystallization of K2Cr2O7 due to the decrease of solubility. 5.0 L of sulphochromic wastes containing 48.08 g L-1 of Cr(VI) were treated and the process of crystallization was performed in three steps until crystals were not formed anymore. On each step the content of Crtotal was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry and Cr(VI) by colorimetric method with 1,5- diphenylcarbazide, resulting in the removal of 91% and 92% of Crtotal and Cr(VI), respectively. After the last step, the remaining Cr(VI) in the solution was reduced to Cr(III) from the addition of NaHSO3 , recovering via precipitation in pH 8 approximately 36.13 g of Cr(OH)3 . The final supernatant was discarded since chromium content was below the maximum limit established by the Brazilian legislation for effluents discharge, which corresponds to 0.10 and 1.0 mg L-1 of Cr(VI) and Cr(III), respectively. 628.4 g of K2Cr2O7 were recovered and the salt was characterized by X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis. Its applicability was compared to the standard K2Cr2O7 when determining the soil organic matter, in which there was no significant difference, thus inferring that the recovered compound may be incorporated on routine analyses. This recovering process allowed the reuse of K2Cr2O7 , thus reducing costs with the acquisition of new reagents and environmental impacts caused by the inadequate discard of sulphochromic solutions.