Biohybrids Materials: Kaolinite-Aminoacids applied to adsorption of industrial dyes

• Grant number: 13/21852-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: February 01, 2014
• End date: January 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Technology
• Principal Investigator: Emerson Henrique de Faria
• Grantee: Adrieli Cristina da Silva
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria Adjunta de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação. Universidade de Franca (UNIFRAN). Franca , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Water is the source of life, every living being depends on it to survive without distinction, however great its importance people keep polluting the rivers and their springs, forgetting as it´s essential for life on the planet. Brazil is a privileged country in relation to the amount of water, having the largest reserves of water on the planet. Natural water resources are of fundamental importance in the development of various economic activities as well in the agricultural, industrial, and commercial. However they account for a large portion of the pollution of rivers and springs. So many studies have been developed with the objective of finding possible solutions for remediation and minimization of contamination of water resources. Thus, removal of chemical pollutants such as dyes present in aqueous solutions especially waste water is still an issue rise in environmental research. Actually, the dyes that are released into wastewater often have toxic characteristics and are not readily degradable. As a result of increased industrial activities in last decades, contamination of natural waters has been one of the major problems of modern society. Among the various industrial sectors, the textile sector generates higher amounts of wastewater, since it´s industrial processes generate large volumes of colored effluents. Which if they do not have proper treatment and disposal, can cause serious environmental damage. In this context, the present work aims decontamination of aqueous solutions containing dyes, using as a method of removing these substances the adsorption method and the adsorbent used is a Natural Brazilian clay, the kaolinite of São Simão (São Paulo State), functionalized with biomolecules amino acids - alanine and cysteine. The kaolinite is widely used in the ceramic, paper, ink, polymers and among others, however it arouses great interest in the study for new applications, especially when it comes to the recovery of natural resources, this because the clay it´s a natural material with great abundance and low cost, which leads to the possibility of applications in industrial scale. The chemical modification of kaolinite it allows improved properties, increasing their functionality. In this work the substances used for the modification of kaolinite are amino acids, thereby obtaining a biodegradable material, multifunctional and low cost. The material obtained is used as an adsorbent for selective removal of different dyes from effluents. Adsorption is one of the most commonly methods used to wastewater treatment, because it´s no present higher cost for implementation, is a quick and easy planning. (AU)