Preparation and characterization of a new adsorbent from raphia taedigera seed

Özet

There has been widespread research and engagement in recent years on theuse of plant material in preparing porous carbon for wastewater treatment. Inthis study, new biochars (BCs) impregnated with 0.1 M sulphuric acid (RTA)and 0.1 M sodium hydroxide (RTB) were prepared. The BCs and raw seed[RTR] were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fouriertransform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer, andthermogravimetric/Differential thermal analyser. [TGA/DTA) to determinetheir morphology, spectral bands and thermal behaviour respectively. RTRshowed a scattered aggregated surface microstructure, while both RTA andRTB gave aggregated rough surfaces with high number of pores. The FTIRanalysis showed significant changes in term of band shift, bandsdisappearances, and new band formations due to pyrolysis and activation of theBCs. The results of the TGA/DTA revealed that RTA and RTB have betterthermal stability than RTR, with the maximum degradation temperature ofRTR, RTA, and RTB occurred at 3800C, 4250C and 4100C respectively.Adsorption efficiencies ranged from 81.671 to 99.743% for performanceevaluation on the BCs using different adsorbent dosages and the initialconcentrations of methylene blue solutions. These preliminary investigationssuggest that biochars prepared from Raphia taedigera seed can be used formethylene blue removal from wastewater.