Synthesis of Alginate Microparticles and their Use in Wastewaters Cleaning
S. PERETZ

Abstract.
The synthesis of alginate microparticles happened as a result of the interaction between sodium alginate and a salt of divalent metal ions, in the absence or the presence of two cationic surfactants, dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. The alginate cross-link complexes can exist either as homogeneous clear solutions or precipitates or as microparticles. The effects of salt and sodium alginate concentrations on the properties of the gel-like membranes were investigated. The influence of the two surfactants on the domains of binding isotherms was studied. In this study we focuses also on the strategy and the optimal conditions for the removal of nitrophenols from water employing barium-alginate and barium-iron-alginate gel microparticles. The equilibrium and kinetic experiments of nitrophenols uptake by alginate microparticles were carried out under different values of pH, initial concentration of contaminants and the amount of alginate gel microparticles. The contaminant removal efficiency increases with the increasing of the pH and decreases with the increasing of initial contaminant concentration.