Evaluation of zeolites for the emerging contaminants removal from aqueous samples

• Grant number: 14/21871-2
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2015
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Sergio Fadini
• Grantee: Diana Nara Ribeiro de Sousa
• Home Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/01314-7 - High silica zeolites for removal of pharmaceuticals in wastewater samples, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

In recent years it has become a growing number of organic substances detected as pharmaceuticals, personal care products and hormones in different aquatic compartments. This has been mainly due to the low efficiency of removal these compounds in conventional wastewater treatment plants. In this sense, additional steps of treatment need to be further studied and improved so that these contaminants can be removed, avoiding its input in the environment. Some processes have been studied, but has not yet been possible to establish a fully effective technology. The adsorption processes are very attractive due its advantages such as no generation of byproducts and the diversity of materials that can be used as activated carbons, silicas and zeolites. Among these, studies have shown that zeolites are promising materials in the removal of such contaminants. From this perspective, this proposal aims to evaluate the utilization of different zeolite structures (FAU, MOR, MFI) on the adsorption of four drugs for human use (atenolol, carbamazepine, diclofenac and ibuprofen), a product of personal hygiene (triclosan) and a hormone (estrone) in samples of treated sewage. In addition this, determine the main variables that affect the adsorption process in order try to understand the mechanisms involved in this process. At the end of this work is to establish the optimal conditions for adsorption using zeolites with suitable characteristics, thus contributing to the improvement of treatment processes and consequently minimizing the intake of contaminants. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

RIBEIRO DE SOUSA, DIANA NARA; MOZETO, ANTONIO APARECIDO; CARNEIRO, RENATO LAJARIM; FADINI, PEDRO SERGIO. Spatio-temporal evaluation of emerging contaminants and their partitioning along a Brazilian watershed. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, v. 25, n. 5, p. 4607-4620, FEB 2018. Web of Science Citations: 4.