The Ag0-containing sorbents synthesized by Na, Al, and Si alkoxides have higher maximum iodine capture capacity and textural properties than zeolite-based Ag0-containing sorbents. However, these sorbents were prepared in the form of granules via a step for cutting cylindrical alcogels. Since asmade sorbents decreased packing density, they must be additionally crushed and then classified into an appropriate size for increasing packing density. The bead formation in the step of sol-gelation could bring about the simplification of sorbent preparation process and an improvement of packing density. In the Na, Al, and Si alkoxides as starting materials, sol solution was hydrophilic and lower density than vegetable oil, which transformed sol droplets to sol-gel beads. Thus, in these precursors, sol droplets, which must be sprayed by single nozzle placed at bottom side of oil column, can rise up through oil column. Acetic acid (HOAc) was used as the catalyst for the hydrolysis of Na alkoxide (TEOS) and gelation of the Na+AlSi-OH alcosol. For obtaining sol-gel beads, experiments were performed by the flowrate change of sol solution and HOAc at different nozzle sizes using soybean oil column of 1 m in length. At a sol/HOAc flowrate ratio of 3.85, some Na+AlSi-OH alcogel beads were obtained. After the Ag/Na ion-exchange, Ag content in Ag+AlSi-OH hydrogel was low due to reaction between Na+ and HOAc during sol-gelation and aging step. The Ag+AlSi-OH hydrogel with high Ag content could be prepared by Na addition. After the solvent exchange and drying at ambient pressure, the bead sorbents had higher Ag0 content and larger pore size than granular sorbents. However, further experiments are needed to increase yield rate in bead sorbent.

In this study, PVC-LMO beads were prepared by immobilizing lithium manganese oxide (LMO) with poly vinyl chloride (PVC) diluted in dioxane solvent. XRD and SEM analysis confirmed that LMO was immobilized well in PVC-LMO beads. The diameter of PVC-LMO beads prepared by dioxane solvent was about 2 mm. The adsorption experiments of lithium ions by PVC-LMO beads were conducted batchwise. The optimum pH was pH 10. The adsorption characteristics of lithium ions by PVC-LMO beads was well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained from Langmuir model was 24.25 mg/g. The thermodynamic parameters such as △H°, △S° and △G° were evaluated. The calculated ΔG° was between −6.16 and −4.14 kJ/mol (below zero), indicating the spontaneous nature of Li+ adsorption on PVC-LMO beads. Also, the results showed that PVC-LMO beads prepared in this study could be used for the removal of lithium ions from seawater containing coexisting ions such as Na+, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+.

Immobilized nitrifier bead in airlift bioreactor were used to remove high levels of ammonia nitrogen from synthetic wastewater. Polyvinylalcohol (PVA) bead for immmobilization of nitrifier consortium were prepared by PVA-boric acid method by varying concentration of PVA and nitrifier consortium. By determining viscosity, sphercity and tailing, the characteristics of prepared beads were investigated and the continous immobilization process was developed. Synthetic wastewater containg 25g/㎥ of ammonia nitrogen could be treated within 0.5 hour and the highest removal rate of ammonia nitrogen was 934.2g/㎥ ·day.