Bagasse can clean contaminated water

BAGASSE CAN CLEAN

CONTAMINATED WATER

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A new method to clean contaminated water was discovered by Brazilian researchers, who discovered that sugarcane bagasse, one of the main residues of the national agribusiness, can “clean” water contaminated with copper or chromium.

The research carried out by scientists from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), in collaboration with Unifesp (Federal University of São Paulo) and with the support of FAPESP and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), was published in two articles in the Specialized journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

According to experts, a composite, a hybrid material that has different characteristics from its precursors, produced from bagasse and magnetic nanoparticles, managed to remove copper and chromium in an aqueous medium.

The composite has adsorbent and magnetic properties, efficient in removing different contaminating chemical species present in the aqueous medium.

After removal of the contaminant by the composite by

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adsorption process (by which chemical species are retained on the solid surfaces of the adsorbent), the material is removed from the aqueous medium by the action of a magnet, leaving the water clean.

Its hybrid nature, which combines the properties of the biological matrix with the magnetic properties of magnetite nanoparticles, allows the materials proposed in the work to be versatile. In other words, the material can also be applied to the removal of organic molecules, which reinforces its potential for treating water and effluents.

The first authors of the research were students, Juliana Tosta Theodoro Carvalho and Thais Eduarda Abílio, under the supervision of researcher Elma Neide Vasconcelos Martins Carrilho, from the Polymeric Materials and Biosorbents Laboratory (Lab-MPB), at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar). ), at the Araras Campus, in collaboration with Georgia Labuto, from the Laboratory of Integrated Sciences (LabInSciences) of the Chemistry Department of the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), in Diadem.

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The research line is supported by FAPESP and of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).

The study is part of a series of other works that his group has been developing at the Lab-MPB (UFSCar), using biomass as biosorbents, a viable and efficient alternative for the decontamination of aquatic environments.

With these materials, the proposal is to create fixed bed adsorption columns containing the adsorbent composites produced with biomass residues that would be discarded, considered garbage, to act as biosorbent filters. It is good that scientific production based on the use of this category of technology continues to grow in Brazil and boost the bioeconomy in the country.

Copper is a malleable metal and a good conductor of electricity, which is why it is widely used in industry, civil construction and agricultural activities. It is widely used to control the proliferation of cyanobacteria in water reservoirs for human consumption. In small amounts, it is an essential element for living organisms, but in high

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concentrations in water it can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to analyzes by the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo (Cetesb).

So this discovery can help everyone, not just humans, but also animals in contaminated water.

The technique can also be adapted for removing synthetic dyes, drugs, hormones and pesticides from water. Carrilho recalls that the magnetic nanocomposites studied by the group also have the potential to help remove oils (such as crude oil) from the surface of the water in cases of spillage.

In laboratory tests, scientists have already managed to get other composites made from residues of biomass and magnetite that remove crude oil and other categories of oil spilled in water, with 80% efficiency.

Unfortunately in Brazil, several cities still dump sewage into rivers, thus showing the importance of this discovery for cleaning the waters, but in the city where I live, I don't play anymore, the name of E.T.E (Sewer Treatment Station) is my grandfather's name, a tribute to him for

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helping to clean up the city for years, he was called Pedro Leme Machado.

As mentioned in previous chapters, bagasse can be used in various functions, so it is up to the mill owner to sell the bagasse to where he pays more.