Plasma O2modifies the structure of synthetic zeolite-A to improve the removalof cadmium ions from aqueous solutions

Alaa Fahmy (1) , Ahmed Elzaref (1) , Hanan Youssef (2) , Hassan Shehata (1) , Magdy Wassel (1) , Jörg Friedrich (3) , Fabienne Poncin-Epaillard (4) , Dominique Debarnot (4)

1 Al-Azhar University [Cairo, Egypt]
2 National Research Centre [Giza, Egypt]
3 TU - Technical University of Berlin / Technische Universität Berlin
4 IMMM - Institut des Molécules et Matériaux du Mans

The present study addresses the removal of cadmium ions (Cd(II)) from aqueous solutions at a pH of 7.5 using zeolite-A activated by exposure to oxygen plasma. The activation process was performed over a wide range of plasma powers (10, 20, 30, and 40 W) and exposure times (30 to 360 s). Oxygen plasma cannot chemically modify zeolite to a considerable extent, but it can clean the surface, open blocked pores, and induce the formation of additional OH groups via exposure to humidity in ambient air. Therefore, Cd +2 ion removal is increased by approximately 10% with the plasma treatments. Infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy were applied to analyze the changes in the surface structure and properties of thesamples.

Mots clés: Cadmium removal; water treatment; zeolite-A; oxygen plasma; zeolite modification

Domaines: Matériaux; Ingénierie de l'environnement

Alaa Fahmy, Ahmed Elzaref, Hanan Youssef, Hassan Shehata, Magdy Wassel, et al.. Plasma O2modifies the structure of synthetic zeolite-A to improve the removalof cadmium ions from aqueous solutions. Turkish Journal of Chemistry, 2019, 43 (1), pp.172-184. ⟨10.3906/kim-1808-14⟩. ⟨hal-02094342⟩