Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 25 No 1 (2021): 81 - 94

 

 

 

 

STUDYING THE PERFORMANCE OF DIAPER CHAR PRODUCED VIA PYROLYSIS AS AN EFFICIENT ADSORBENT FOR LEAD REMOVAL

 

(Mengkaji Prestasi Char Lampin yang Dihasilkan Melalui Pirolisis Sebagai Penjerap Berkesan untuk Penyingkiran Plumbum)

 

Najiyatul Munirah Yasin, Siti Nurul Hidayah Badrul Hisham, Najaa Nur Atiqah Rozulan, Nurul Ashraf Razali*

 

Faculty of Ocean Engineering Technology and Informatics,

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author:  Nrazali@umt.edu.my

 

 

Received: 17 August 2020; Accepted: 28 December 2020; Published:  20 February 2021

 

 

Abstract

Industrial wastewater contains heavy metal ions that are harmful to the environment. This work aims to study the performance of the adsorbent from diaper char (DC) and activated DC for lead (Pb) removal. The morphology of the adsorbent was characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. DC was prepared via pyrolysis and activated using zinc chloride (ZnCl₂, 0.5 M) and potassium hydroxide (KOH, 0.5 M). The efficiency of the adsorbent was analysed using synthetic Pb. About 96.6% of Pb²⁺ removal was observed upon the introduction of 1 g/L of DC in 20 mg/L of Pb²⁺ solution for 25 min at pH 7. Also, adsorption occurred rapidly even in 5 min (94%). The efficiency of the adsorbent to remove Pb²⁺ was then tested for DC activated using ZnCl₂ and KOH. DC-ZnCl₂ (99.8%) showed higher percentage removal of Pb²⁺ than DC-KOH (98.2%). The adsorption behaviour was fixed with the Freundlich isotherm model (R² = 0.9202) with the maximum adsorption capacity of 7.626 mg/g, where the results indicated a multilayer adsorption mechanism. The findings showed that DC can be utilised as the adsorbent for Pb removal and also demonstrate excellent alternative use of abundant diaper waste.

 

Keyword:  adsorption, diaper char, isotherm, lead

 

Abstrak

Air sisa buangan industri mengandungi ion logam berat yang berbahaya kepada alam sekitar. Hasil kajian ini bertujuan mengkaji prestasi penjerap daripada char lampin (DC) dan DC teraktif untuk penyingkiran plumbum. Morfologi penjerap dikategorikan dengan menggunakan analisis mikroskop elektron pengimbas (SEM), belauan sinar-X (XRD), dan inframerah transformasi Fourier (FTIR). Penyediaan DC dilakukan melalui teknik pirolisis dan diaktifkan menggunakan zink klorida (ZnCl₂, 0.5 M) dan kalium hidroksida (KOH, 0.5 M). Kecekapan penjerap dianalisis dengan menggunakan plumbum sintetik. Kajian menunjukkan bahawa 96.6% penyingkiran plumbum telah dicatatkan apabila 1 g/L DC ditambah dan kepekatan awal plumbum adalah 20 mg/L dalam 25 minit dan pada pH 7ppppdari . Kecekapan penjerap juga berlaku pada kadar yang cepat dalam 5 minit (94%). Kecekapan penjerap untuk menyingkirkan plumbum kemudian diuji menggunakan DC yang telah diaktifkan menggunakan ZnCl₂ dan KOH. DC-ZnCl₂ (99.8%) memberikan peratusan penyingkiran plumbum yang lebih tinggi berbanding DC-KOH (98.2%). Tingkah laku penjerapan diperbaiki dengan model isoterma Freundlich (R² = 0.9202) dengan kapasiti penjerapan maksimum 7.626 mg/g, di mana hasilnya menunjukkan mekanisme penjerapan pelbagai lapisan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa DC boleh digunakan sebagai penjerap untuk penyingkiran plumbum dan juga alternatif terbaik penggunaan sisa lampin yang banyak.

 

Kata kunci:  penjerapan, char lampin, isoterma, plumbum

 

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