Ruey-Shin Juang on Phenol and its Derivatives
Fast Breaking Commentary, August 2010
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Article Title: Adsorption of phenol and its derivatives from water using synthetic resins and low-cost natural adsorbents: A review
Authors: Lin, SH;Juang, RS |
Ruey-Shin Juang talks with ScienceWatch.com and answers a few questions about this month's Fast Breaking Paper paper in the field of Environment & Ecology.
Why do you think your paper is highly
cited?
Phenol and its derivatives are the pollutants of high-priority concern because of their toxicity and possible accumulation in the environment. Phenols are introduced into surface water from industrial effluents such as those from the coal tar, gasoline, plastic, rubber proofing, disinfectant, pharmaceutical and steel industries and domestic wastewaters, agricultural run-off, and chemical spills.
Various methods have been proposed for the treatment of such types of wastewaters. Of these methods, adsorption technology is currently being used extensively. There are many absorbents in use. Activated carbon is the most widely used for this purpose, but the disadvantage associated with it is the high regeneration cost and the generation of carbons fines, due to the brittle nature of carbons used for the removal of organic species. Thus this has simulated research into specialty absorbents using synthetic resins that facilitate a cheap and effective chemical regeneration process.
In this paper, the technical feasibility of using activated carbon, synthetic resins, and various low-cost natural adsorbents for the removal of phenol and its derivatives from contaminated water has been reviewed. Instead of using commercial activated carbon and synthetic resins, researchers have worked on cheap materials such as coal fly ash, sludge, biomass, zeolites, and other adsorbents, which have high adsorption capacity and are locally available. The comparison of their removal performance with that of activated carbon and synthetic resins is presented in this study.
Does it describe a new discovery, methodology, or
synthesis of knowledge?
No. This paper has surveyed the technical feasibility of using activated carbon, synthetic resins, and various low-cost natural adsorbents for the removal of phenol and its derivatives from contaminated waters.
Would you summarize the significance of your paper
in layman’s terms?
"If the low-cost adsorbents mentioned in this paper are highly efficient for the removal of phenol and its derivatives, not only the industries but the living organisms and surrounding environment will be also benefited from the potential toxicity due to phenols..."
Chemical contamination of water from a wide range of toxic compounds, in particular aromatic molecules, is a serious environmental problem owing to their potential human toxicity. Phenol and its derivatives appear to be the major organic pollutants globally in this century. There are a large number of technologies available for the treatment of phenols, but none of them is applicable to all the situations.
Adsorption is relatively new practice for the removal of phenols; however, it is only able to remove few milligrams of phenols per gram of commercially available activated carbon and there are still some problems encountered in the regeneration process. This makes activated carbon an expensive adsorbent for this purpose. Therefore, low-cost materials are sorely needed that are comparable to activated carbon or synthetic resins in terms of adsorption capacity and should be locally available.
The present review shows that some such materials have equivalent or even more adsorption capacity to activated carbon and synthetic resins. On the other hand, some solid waste such as sludge has become one of the society’s most vexing problems. If the solid waste could be converted into low-cost adsorbents, the cost of removal might decrease.
Although the organoclays revealed good adsorption capability, they were still non-economic. Preliminary studies have also revealed the applicability of the substances such as dried activated sludge, red mud, fertilizer wastes, different types of coal, and so on, as scavengers of phenols. Last but not the least, if the alternative adsorbents mentioned previously are highly efficient for the removal of phenols, not only the industries but the living organisms and the surrounding environment will be also benefited from the potential toxicity due to phenols.
Thus, the use of low-cost adsorbents may contribute to the sustainability of the surrounding environment. Undoubtedly low-cost adsorbents offer a lot of promising benefits for commercial purpose in the future.
How did you become involved in this research, and
how would you describe the particular challenges, setbacks, and
successes that you've encountered along the way?
On December 28, 2007, I was invited to write this review paper in the field of adsorption of organics or metals on waste materials by the Editor of Journal of Environmental Management (Dr. Alison L. Gill). This is likely because I have published more than 240 SCI journal articles and gained an h-index of 36 according to the ISI Web of Knowledge [v.4.9].
My research interests focus on the sciences and technology of various separation processes (thermodynamics, kinetics, mass transfer) including solvent extraction, adsorption/ion exchange, electrolytic processes, photocatalytic degradation, and membrane processes. According to Essential Science IndicatorsSM from Clarivate, moreover, I have published six highly cited papers (i.e., the top 1% within its field) that are all in the adsorption field:
- Annadurai G, Juang RS, Lee DJ, "Use of cellulose-based wastes for adsorption of dyes from aqueous solutions," Journal of Hazardous Materials 92: 263-74, 2002;
- Wu FC, Tseng RL, Juang RS, "Kinetic modeling of liquid-phase adsorption of reactive dyes and metal ions on chitosan," Water Research 35: 613-8, 2001;
- Lin SH, Juang RS, "Heavy metal removal from water by sorption using surfactant-modified montmorillonite," Journal of Hazardous Materials 92: 315-26, 2002;
- Tseng RL, Wu FC, Juang RS, "Liquid-phase adsorption of dyes and phenols using pinewood-based activated carbons," Carbon 41: 487-95, 2003;
- Wu FC, Tseng RL, Juang RS, "Comparative adsorption of metal and dye on flake- and bead-type chitosan prepared from fishery wastes," Journal of Hazardous Materials 73: 63-75, 2000; and
- Lin SH, Juang RS, "Adsorption of phenol and its derivatives from water using synthetic resins and low cost natural adsorbents: A review," Journal of Environmental Management 90: 1336-49, 2009.
Where do you see your research leading in the
future?
As previously mentioned, my research interests focus on the science and technology of various separation processes including solvent extraction, adsorption/ion exchange, and membrane processes such as nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, microfiltration, electrodialysis, liquid membranes, and dispersion-free processes in hollow-fiber membrane contactors. These techniques have been applied in various fields of chemical and environmental engineering.
In recent years, my research interests have shifted to bioseparations and biochemical engineering; that is, the downstream processing of bio-related systems. I hope this will become my research leading in the future.
Do you foresee any social or political
implications for your research?
No. This is purely a sustainable environment issue. If the low-cost
adsorbents mentioned in this paper are highly efficient for the removal of
phenol and its derivatives, not only the industries but the living
organisms and surrounding environment will be also benefited from the
potential toxicity due to phenols. Thus, the use of low-cost adsorbents may
contribute to the sustainability of the surrounding
environment.
Ruey-Shin Juang, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Dean, College of Engineering
Yuan Ze University
Chung-Li, Taiwan
KEYWORDS: SYNTHETIC RESINS, LOW-COST NATURAL ADSORBENTS, ADSORPTION, PHENOL, PHENOL DERIVATIVES, WASTEWATER TREATMENT, NONIONIC ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, DYE-AFFINITY MICROBEADS, BAGASSE FLY ASH, AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS, ACTIVATED CARBON, TETRACHLOROMETHANE SORPTION, BREAKTHROUGH CURVES, SURFACE CHEMISTRY.