Utilization of Waste Leather Powders for Highly Effective Removal of Dyes from Water

Abstract

As a natural polymer, leather and its associated industries are known to be the leading economic sector in many countries. However, the huge amounts of leather waste generated from the leather industry causes severe environmental pollution. Herein, cow leather (CL) powders were prepared using a homemade machine and used as a low-cost adsorbent for the effective removal of reactive dyes from wastewater. The as-prepared CL powders exhibited dot-like, rod-like, and fiber-like morphologies. A Fourier transform infrared analysis and an x-ray diffraction analysis demonstrated that the CL powders retained the main structure of the protein contained in it. In addition, an improvement in thermal stability was also observed for the CL powders. Dye adsorption experiments indicate that the CL powders showed the highly effective removal of C.I. Reactive Red 120 (RR120), C.I. Reactive Yellow 127 (RY127), and C.I. Reactive Blue 222 (RB222) with the adsorption capacity of 167.0, 178.9, and 129.6 mg·g−1, respectively. The Langmuir, pseudo-second order, and intraparticle diffusion models could well depict the adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of CL powders toward the investigated reactive dyes. The as-prepared CL powders can be used as a potential adsorbent in the treatment of dye contaminated wastewater. Future studies will mainly focus on the application of the adsorbed CL powders for the pigment printing of textile materials.

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers Based on Chitosan for 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid Removal

“…This behaviour suggests the existence of a relationship between the adsorption capacity and the active sites of the absorbents. Therefore, the chemical nature of the matrices drove the adsorption process as a result of the electrostatic interactions between the analyte and adsorbents (see Figure 9 ), as already demonstrated in previous studies [ 8 , 38 , 53 , 54 ].…”

Synthesis of Modified Starch/Polyvinyl Alcohol Composite for Treating Textile Wastewater

“…These methods also have many difficulties for industrial application, due to the high cost of investment and operation, complicated processes, and inability to remove pollutants completely [5,12,14]. By contrast, adsorption is one of the most efficient and reliable textile wastewater treatment techniques [15][16][17], and fixed-bed adsorption is often desired from an industrial point of view, because of its advantages of its 100% pollutant removal ability from wastewater, lower floor space, and lower cost of equipment investment and operation [18][19][20][21][22]. Many studies have been conducted on the dye adsorption properties of various adsorbents used in fixed beds, such as agricultural waste, chitosan-based materials, zeolites, and industrial by-products, etc.…”

Fabrication of Novel Polymer Composites from Leather Waste Fibers and Recycled Poly(Ethylene-Vinyl-Acetate) for Value-Added Products

“…However, both composites possessed the triple helical intrinsic fibrous structure, and it is an indication of the use of ultrafine leather powder as a functional reinforcement [125]. The leather fibrous powder can also be effectively used as an adsorbent to remove dyes from the wastewater, and the X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that cow leather powders retain their protein structure [126]. A thin film X-ray diffraction analysis is also performed by researchers to examine the collagen fiber spacing and to identify the phases of isolated and commercial collagens [127].…”