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WASTEWATER TREATMENT WITH SORBENTS MADE OF MODIFIED
VERMICULITE AND ORGAN VERMICULITE
Umarov B.N., Narzullaeva A.M.
Bukhara state technical university
Abstract.
The article investigates the modified Vermiculite with chitosan and adsorption
capacity of organ sorbent based on.
This paper investigates the efficiency of wastewater treatment using sorbents based on modified
vermiculite and organ vermiculite. Vermiculite, a layered aluminosilicate with high cation
exchange capacity and thermal stability, was chemically and thermally modified to enhance its
adsorption properties. Additionally, surface modification with organic compounds was applied to
obtain organ vermiculite with increased affinity for organic pollutants. The sorption capacity of
both materials was evaluated for removing heavy metals (such as Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺) and
organic contaminants (such as phenols and dyes) from industrial and domestic wastewater.
Experimental results demonstrated that organ vermiculite exhibited higher sorption efficiency
toward organic pollutants, while thermally modified vermiculite was more effective in capturing
heavy metal ions. The study confirms the potential of using natural and modified vermiculite-
based sorbents as cost-effective and environmentally friendly materials for advanced wastewater
treatment applications.
Key words:
technology modification, vermiculite, chitosan, organ sorbent, adsorption, organ
vermiculite, wastewater treatment, heavy metals, organic pollutants.
Introduction.
Despite the many physical and chemical processes currently used in wastewater
treatment, the most effective and promising for removing the bulk of pollutants are sorption
processes using natural adsorbents. Along with traditional sorption materials, activated carbons,
natural aluminosilicates such as clays with an expanding (montmorillonite, vermiculite) or rigid
structural cell (kaolinite, hydromica, palygorskite ) are widely used for these purposes.
Considering the fact that the composition and properties of clays are individual for each deposit,
it is important to obtain new cheap and universal sorbents based on local mineral raw materials,
study the mechanisms of interaction of pollutants with the obtained sorbents and develop
wastewater treatment technologies that allow creating closed water circulation systems and
reducing the burden on the environment.
Among the variety of adsorbent materials studied, natural layered silicates, such as vermiculite,
have attracted increasing attention due to their abundance, low cost, thermal stability, and
relatively high cation exchange capacity. Vermiculite is a hydrated magnesium–aluminum–iron
silicate with a layered structure, which can be thermally expanded or chemically modified to
enhance its adsorptive properties. Thermal treatment leads to exfoliation of layers and an
increase in surface area, making the material more accessible to pollutants. Meanwhile, chemical
surface modification, particularly with organic cationic surfactants, leads to the formation of
organ vermiculites—materials that combine the structural stability of silicates with the
hydrophobicity and affinity for organic molecules typical of carbon-based adsorbents. Despite
numerous studies on individual types of modified clays, comparative research on the
performance of thermally modified vermiculite versus organ vermiculite in wastewater treatment
remains limited. Moreover, the selectivity of these materials toward different classes of
pollutants (inorganic vs. organic) is not yet fully understood, especially under realistic multi-
contaminant conditions. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the adsorption
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efficiency of thermally modified vermiculite and organ vermiculite in removing both heavy
metals and organic pollutants from synthetic wastewater. The materials are characterized using
modern physicochemical methods, and their performance is assessed through batch adsorption
experiments under varying operational parameters. The results are analyzed in terms of
adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and reusability, providing insight into the potential application of
vermiculite-based sorbents in sustainable and low-cost wastewater treatment technologies.
One of the aims of this scientific work is to develop a technology for wastewater treatment with
sorbents based on vermiculite modified with chitosan. The relevance of the development is
determined by the growing interest in the creation of new environmentally friendly sorbents from
natural hydromicas and aluminosilicates. However, it should be noted that the limiting factor for
the mass use of organovermiculites for the treatment of textile wastewater (TSW) is the lack of
effective granulation technologies, since sorbents are prone to dispersion in aqueous media.
Based on the data obtained and on the basis of complex experimental studies, scientific and
methodological principles for the creation of modified vermiculites with organic reagents were
developed:
At the beginning of the process, careful selection and sorting of quarry clay is necessary. An
important part of the preparation of the raw material for the technological process of adsorbent
production is their separation from impurities of non-clay minerals after preliminary grinding.
The technological scheme for the production of organobentonite sorbents consists of the
following stages:
- extraction of raw materials;
- preparation of raw materials, consisting of the processes of separation of non-clay substances
(feldspar, quartz, micas, etc.) from impurities and preliminary grinding;
- enrichment of clays with the preparation of paste-like suspensions and sedimentation of coarse
fractions;
- preparation and dosing of chemical reagents – modifiers;
- modification of clay paste with polymer compounds;
-drying and grinding, packaging and storage of the resulting adsorbents.
Research results and discussion.
As a result of the conducted laboratory studies, the
technological scheme of using organ vermiculite for cleaning textile wastewater was compared.
The scheme includes a preparation stage, for adjusting the pH from the tank (1) hydrochloric
acid is fed then into the reactor with a stirrer for precipitation coagulant aluminum sulfate (2) and
mixed with water (2) at a mass ratio of 1:3 and stirred for 2 hours. After 24 hours of swelling in
water, the clay is broken into a suspension using a mechanical stirrer, then water is added in a
ratio of 1:2 and the suspension is thoroughly mixed . Next . After sedimentation, the water was
drained through the upper side siphon (6), the raw material from the middle part of the tank was
extracted (6) into a flat tank for air drying. Through the lower part of the sedimentation tank (7)
coarse sand and other sedimentary substances settled on the bottom of the tank were separated
and did not participate in the further technological process. The dispersed raw material was laid
out in a thin layer (7) and air-dried for 24-48 hours. Then the semi-dried raw material was pre-
crushed using a hand crusher, which could be a disk mill. This was followed by drying in a
drying cabinet at a temperature of 110°C for 4 hours to a residual moisture content of 20% .
Then the dried clay samples were fed into a planetary mill, where certain portions of modifiers
(12) were fed using a dispenser (3) and subjected to modification and dispersion for 30 minutes.
The mass of each sample was 1 kg (0.8-0.9 kg is the mass of the original bentonite clay and 0.1-
0.2 kg is the mass of the modifier).
The results of the conducted experiments confirm the high efficiency of using modified
vermiculite and organ vermiculite as sorbents for wastewater treatment. The observed
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differences in adsorption capacities between the two materials can be attributed to their structural
and surface modifications. In contrast, organ vermiculite, prepared by surface modification with
organic cationic surfactants, exhibited significantly higher adsorption efficiency for organic
pollutants, such as phenols and synthetic dyes. The hydrophobic organic groups on the
vermiculite surface created an environment favorable for the sorption of non-polar and semi-
polar organic molecules. The presence of π-π interactions, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals
forces likely contributed to the improved retention of these contaminants. Similar behavior was
reported in studies on organoclays used for removal of aromatic compounds from wastewater.
The selectivity observed in the two sorbent types indicates their potential for targeted
applications. Thermally modified vermiculite is more suitable for treating wastewater
contaminated with heavy metals, particularly from mining, electroplating, or battery industries.
Organovermiculite, on the other hand, is effective for treating effluents containing organic
pollutants from textile, pharmaceutical, and petrochemical industries.
It is also important to note that both sorbents exhibited high stability and low leaching under
experimental conditions, which is critical for environmental safety. Additionally, their
regeneration potential, assessed through desorption tests, showed promising results, indicating
the possibility of multiple reuse cycles with minimal efficiency loss. However, certain
limitations were observed. For example, in multi-component systems containing both metals and
organics, competitive sorption reduced the efficiency of both materials. This suggests that further
surface functionalization or combined sorbent systems may be required for complex wastewater
streams.
Overall, the study confirms that vermiculite-based sorbents—when properly modified—can be
cost-effective, environmentally sustainable alternatives to conventional adsorbents like activated
carbon or synthetic resins, particularly in regions with abundant natural vermiculite resources.
A
B
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Fig. A) Traditional technological scheme of wastewater treatment for textile production at
JSC Bukhara cotton »
B) simplified developed technology
2) bunkers for hydrochloric acid clay; 3) reactor with a stirrer for coagulant; 4) sedimentation
tank; 5) lower siphon for draining water; 6) upper siphon; 7) tank for technical water
As a result of extrusion molding, cylindrical granules with a diameter of 0.5–2 mm and a height
of 1–2.5 mm were formed, which were subjected to heat treatment. The resulting granules were
then sent to a packer.
It is necessary to emphasize the simplicity, low cost , environmental and chemical safety of the
proposed technological scheme for the production of a pilot batch of adsorbent based on natural
vermiculites and organic modifiers. Mini-industrial form of this laboratory technology has been
mastered at the Department of General Chemistry at TSTU, and on its basis in the production
conditions of this enterprise, various adsorbents (X-VVK, MVV) were produced in the amount
of 2 kg each, which were transferred for pilot production testing to " Bukhara" cotton textile ».
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