Modified diatomite materials and their environmental application as a sorbent for inorganic ions

The studies aimed at the technology for the production of highly effective sorbents which are based on the natural mineral named diatomite. Diatomite is commonly derived in many regions around the world. In Poland, geological analysis was applied to find at least 4 large deposits of diatomite material. One of the diatomite earth mines is situated in an area of Jawornik Ruski in the southern part of Poland. The quantity of diatomite in the deposit was calculated at approximately 10 million tons, therefore its large-scale application can be not only locally, but even globally. In the last few years, diatomite was studied in the order of technological use, e.g. for industry, plant breeding, and different sectors of agriculture. In this article, we present the application potential of diatomite material. At least, diatomite can be efficiently applied to eliminate various toxic spills as a whole and different hazardous substance dissolved in environmental waters. Our results of the analysis also showed economic importance, as the production of good quality sorbents based on locally accessible raw materials could reduce transportation energy and costs, and therefore greatly lower the environmental pressure. Further, the usage of sorbents with improved efficiency can reduce the total quantity of employed raw materials and then lower the amount of sorbents soaked with waste and their recycling. However, the most important step, before the implementation of the final functional material in practice, is a series of analyses that should be carried out to optimize suitable processing parameters for raw material. We present the results of physical and chemical analyses of Jawornik Ruski’s diatomite and its great absorption/desorption properties against inorganic chemicals. Further, the effect of grain fraction size of diatomite material and its modification method on the sorption/desorption properties against ${\text{P}}{{\text{O}}_4}^{3 - }$, NO
³⁻
, ${\text{SO}}_4^{2 - }$ ions were studied.