Sustainable composite material based on glutenin biopolymeric-clay for efficient separation of rare earth elements

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2022.135959
• Publication Date: 2022-03-24T01:30:40Z
• Authors: Youssef El Ouardi; Morad Lamsayah; Svetlana Butylina; Shiyu Geng; Mohammadamin Esma...; Alessio Giove; Emile S. Massima ...; Sami Virolainen; Soufian El Barkany; Abdelkrim Ouammou; Eveliina Repo; Katri Laatikainen
• Keywords: Thermogravimetric analysis; Langmuir adsorption model; Endothermic process; Bentonite

Rare earth metals (REEs) are crucial for modern industries and technological development. Their extraction from non-renewable primary sources has almost reached its threshold due to excessive global demand. An effectual approach REEs recovery is recycling secondary governed by separation materials. In this work, a novel glutenin-based Na-bentonite ([email protected]_Bex:y) composite was produced via the in-situ hydrothermal route followed subsequent freeze-drying process. Additionally, possible production composites proposed. The [email protected]_Bex:y were characterized with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive (EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, zeta potential (ZP) measurements. FTIR results complemented SEM images XRD measurements confirmed successful incorporation of glutenin into clay. aqueous solution used as model system demonstrate material's ability selective metal recovery. best conditions (T, pH, time) REE sorption assessed using equilibrium batch adsorption experiments. kinetics effectively explained pseudo-second-order model; all data Langmuir model. Thermodynamic investigations revealed that endothermic spontaneous, occurred through chemisorption mechanism ions investigated molecular modelling. study feasibility utilizing protected]_Be50:50 an efficient material removal. maximum capacities Y3+, La3+, Nd3+ achieved protected]_Be50:50, 76.87, 56.71, 74.61 mg/g, respectively. This work offers new engineering, valuable materials diverse sources.