Novel strategies synthesis to reuse Tanner industry by-products to obtain high-value functional porous materials

Abstract

The tanning industry generates a significant amount of by-products (such as: organic substances such as greases, waxes, dyes, fur residues and inorganic substances such as chromium chloride, hydroxide or chromium-containing aluminum oxide-hydroxide) and many others. The handling and destination of the waste is of great concern, since this type of activity is considered highly polluting. Among its general uses, clays stand out as catalysts, adsorbents and supports for the controlled release of fertilizers; In this sense the recovery of waste from the tanning industry to obtain adsorbents, catalysts and photocatalysts for the removal of various aquatic pollutants presents promising characteristics in terms of cost reduction for waste disposal and environmental protection. In this way, the project highlights an environmentally correct alternative to obtain functional porous materials, being the use of inorganic by-products from the tanning industry containing aluminum and chromium to obtain synthetic clays, or their use as active sites to obtain functional porous materials using for this pruporse the natural clays. In this sense, effects such as reaction time, reagent concentration and presence of surfactants and alkoxides to obtain ordered porous materials will be evaluated. It should also be noted that the hydrothermal synthesis accomplished by microwave radiation could help to obtain organized materials in a shorter reaction time than the conventional hydrothermal routes used for the synthesis of porous materials and clays. All the synthesized materials will be characterized by X-ray scattering at low angle (SAXS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared absorption spectroscopy (DRIRFT), Raman spectroscopy, thermal analysis (TG / DTG, DSC and DTA ), surface area analysis, elementary analyzes of C, N e H, Si, Al, Fe, Mg, Mn, Cr e Ti e Zn, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and / or transmission (MET). (AU)