Abstract: The present study investigates the effectiveness of
newly designed clayey pellets (fired clay pellets diameter sizes of 5
and 8 mm, and unfired clay pellets with the diameter size of 15 mm)
as the beds in the column adsorption process. The adsorption
experiments in the batch mode were performed before the column
experiment with the purpose to determine the order of adsorbent
package in the column which was to be designed in the investigation.
The column experiment was performed by using a known mass of the
clayey beds and the volume of the waste printing developer, which
was purified. The column was filled in the following order: fired clay
pellets of the diameter size of 5 mm, fired clay pellets of the diameter
size of 8 mm, and unfired clay pellets of the diameter size of 15 mm.
The selected order of the adsorbents showed a high removal
efficiency for zinc (97.8%) and copper (81.5%) ions. These
efficiencies were better than those in the case of the already existing
mode adsorption. The obtained experimental data present a good
basis for the selection of an appropriate column fill, but further
testing is necessary in order to obtain more accurate results.
Abstract: Geophagic and cosmetic clays are among potential nanomaterial which occur naturally and are of various forms. The use of these nanoclays is a common practice in both rural and urban areas mostly due to tradition and medicinal reasons. These naturally occurring materials can be valuable sources of nanomaterial by serving as nanocomposites. The need to ascertain the safety of these materials is the motivation for this research. Physical Characterization based on the hue value and microbiological qualities of the nanoclays were carried out. The Microbial analysis of the clay samples showed considerable contamination with both bacteria and fungi with fungal contaminants taking the lead. This observation may not be unlikely due to the ability of fungi species to survive harsher growth conditions than bacteria. ‘Atike pupa’ showed no bacterial growth. The clay with the largest bacterial count was Calabash chalk (Igbanke), while that with the highest fungal count was ‘Eko grey’. The most commonly isolated bacteria in this study were Clostridium spp. and Corynebacterium spp. while fungi included Aspergillus spp. These results are an indication of the need to subject these clay materials to treatments such as heating before consumption or topical usage thereby ascertaining their safety.