Palestra “THE POLYMER SURFACTANT AGGREGATE PROCESS FOR THE SEPARATION OF COPPER (II) FROM IRON (III) IN AQUEOUS STREAMS”
Palestra com o Professor Nick Hankins MA PhD CEng FIChemE MRSC
– Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PJ, U.K.
Dia: 15 de maio (segunda-feira)
Horário: 16h30min
Local: Auditório I do Departamento de Engenharia Química e Engenharia de Alimentos
Acidic copper mine wastewaters often contain significant amounts of Cu and Fe ions. Because of the challenging solution conditions (such as low pH), selective recovery of the Cu is usually limited for conventional technologies, such as ion exchange. The novel
polymer surfactant aggregate (PSA) process, developed in previous studies 1 , uses functionalized hydrophilic polymers in solution to achieve selective chelation of the target metallic ion. Surfactant aggregates then adsorb on to the chains to facilitate charge neutralisation, causing flocculation and settling, thus selectively removing the target. In this study, the functionalized polymer picolyl-polyethylenimine (PPEI) was synthesized and applied with an anionic surfactant (SDS) for Cu (II) selective recovery from Fe (III) in acidic aqueous streams. Performance was compared with conventional ion exchange resins, including functionalized silica.
The PSA process based on functionalized PPE polymer shows a high selectivity of Cu over Fe at low pH values, removing in a short time up to 90% of 100 mg/L Cu from a mixture with 500 mg/L Fe. This removal performance is superior to established ion exchange processes, and is achieved in minutes of contact rather than hours using a simple, inexpensive process. 1 Shen LC, Nguyen XC, & Hankins NP, Removal of heavy metal ions from dilute aqueous solutions by polymer–surfactant aggregates: a novel effluent treatment process. Sep. Purif. Technol. 152:101-107 (2015).
Biography: Nick Hankins is a Professor of Chemical Engineering in the Department of Engineering Science at The University of Oxford. He holds an M.A . from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD from the University of Oklahoma. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Colloid and Interfacial Chemistry at the University of Bristol. He has over 7 years industrial experience in the petroleum and chemical industries with Shell Research and Aspen Technology, and 28 years of academic experience in esteemed UK and US institutions. His area of expertise lies in colloidal and interfacial processes and the application of colloids, surfactants, interfaces and membranes in process technology, particularly in potable and wastewater treatment. He is the Director of the Centre for Sustainable Water Engineering at The University of Oxford, and acted as the Oxford Director of the Singapore-Peking-Oxford Research enterprise. He is Joint Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Water Process Engineering, and sits on the editorial board of four other journals. He is a Chartered Chemical Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, and a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
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