Chapters authored
Applications of Chitosan in Wastewater Treatment
In the last time, the use of natural additives that are biocompatible, are biodegradable, have low toxicity and are from renewable resources attracted attention of many researchers due to their high ability to retain different pollutants from wastewaters. In this context, there are many research studies that highlight the biosorbent ability of chitosan and their composites for the pollutants from wastewaters such as heavy metal ions, organochloride pesticides, suspended solids, turbidity, organic oxidised substances, fatty and oil impurities or textile wastewater dyes. Furthermore, the increase of adsorption ability of chitosan by chemical modifications leading to the formation of chitosan derivatives, grafting chitosan and chitosan composites gained much attention, being extensively studied and widely reported in the literature. In this chapter the research studies regarding the chitosan application in wastewater treatments as well as the preliminary results on its chemical modification to obtain and utilisation of zeolite-chitosan composites in adsorption of organic pollutants from industrial wastewaters are presented.
Part of the book: Biological Activities and Application of Marine Polysaccharides
Use of Recycled Cellulose Fibers to Obtain Sustainable Products for Bioeconomy Applications
Knowing the negative impact of plastic materials from agriculture sources on the environmental pollution, in this chapter, some of research activities carried on the utilization of secondary cellulose fibers (from recovered papers and boards) and other lignocellulosic materials on obtaining of sustainable composite materials are presented. The aim was to obtain the (bio)composite materials with applications in manufacturing processes of biodegradable nutritive pots used in the production of vegetable seedlings. The tests were developed on a pilot plant designed to obtain the pots from a mixture of secondary cellulose fibers, red peat, and other additives. These materials were characterized in terms of biodegradability and growth and development of tomatoes and lettuce seedlings. For all the compositional versions studied, the specific indicators of seedlings growth and development have recorded values that allow a normal growth of plants similar to the use of plastic pots or biodegradable pots available on the import market.
Part of the book: Generation, Development and Modifications of Natural Fibers