Coagulante magnético de Moringa oleifera e Grafeno para o tratamento de efluentes

Abstract

Currently, there is an environmental concern with the difficulty of treating effluents efficiently and economically for release into water bodies. The removal of turbidity and color is commonly achieved by the coagulation and flocculation process. Inorganic coagulants, such as aluminum-based salts, are used, but these coagulants promote environmental problems and provide for human health. Thus, the use of natural coagulants has been studied as a good alternative for the treatment of water and effluents, due to its high availability, low cost and non-toxicity. The present work aimed to study an association of magnetic nanoparticles and graphene for the functionalization of Moringa oleifera (MO) seeds for wastewater treatment. The effluent was obtained by a company in Maringá, Paraná, Brazil. For this, the coagulation/flocculation and sedimentation tests (CFS) were performed in a Jar Test with and without the interference of an external magnetic field. The efficiency of the process was provided through the analysis of physical-chemical parameters for comparison. The use of MO as a coagulant associated with nanoparticles and graphene expresses efficient removal of the effluent quality parameters, being 91,50% in relation to apparent color and 94,66% for turbidity. Such values were achieved using the best sample in a 30 min magnetic sedimentation time, proving that the CFS process can be optimized and that the sedimentation time can be reduced from 90 min to 30 min. Thus, it was found that the magnetic coagulant is a viable method with a low environmental impact for the treatment of effluents.