A super-efficient polyquaternium gel that can remove over-10-times masses of lignins from wastewater for resourcefulness

To address the efficient resourcefulness of papermaking wastewater, this study designed a super-efficient gel material (SGPQG/SGPQ) that could remove over-10-times masses of lignins from wastewater, and subsequently realized the highly-efficient reuse of wastes. The mass of lignin removed by per unit mass of SGPQG/SGPQ was 10,157.71 mg·g⁻¹, i.e., the mass of lignin removed was 10.16 times that of the mass of SGPQG/SGPQ itself, which was 1.23–50.55 times better than the existing similar materials, showing a super-efficient lignin removal ability. Meanwhile, the average lignin removal rate of SGPQG/SGPQ was 1.85–3.34 times higher than those of the pre-products. Moreover, the extended application of SGPQG/SGPQ in the purification of a complex wastewater and a real papermaking wastewater had been also successfully carried out. The mechanism investigations confirmed an integrated skeleton-space effect mechanism, which is the key factor for SGPQG/SGPQ to achieve the super-efficient lignin removal in the purification of papermaking wastewater. In addition, the SGPQG/SGPQ wastes after treating lignins, could be directly used for adsorption treatment of dyeing wastewater, and had 443.9 times adsorption capacity compared to the widely-used activated carbon, demonstrating an efficient resourcefulness reuse.

Menghan Hu, Na Xie, Shan Gao, Yujia Huang, Yikai Yu