The present study reports the removal of Bisphenol A (BPA) and Ibuprofen (IBP) using adsorbents prepared from batik sludge. The calcite sludge-aluminum hydroxide (CAl) adsorbent was prepared by calcination and followed by aluminum hydroxide impregnation. The batik sludge and prepared adsorbents were characterized by FESEM, TGA, XRD, FTIR and BET techniques. The maximum adsorption capacity, adsorption time, different initial solution pH, ionic strength and regeneration study of the adsorbents were also investigated. Furthermore, the sorption behavior of the pollutants were studied by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The deposition of Al(OH)3 enhanced the BPA and IBP adsorption capacity on the CAl surface. The maximum removal capacity of BPA and Ibuprofen were 83.53 mg g-1 and 34.96 mg g-1 for the CAl adsorbent. In addition, the kinetic data for BPA and IBP were fitted to the pseudo first order, pseudo second order, Elovich, parabolic diffusion and power function equations to understand the sorption behavior. The adsorption behavior of BPA and IBP was mainly chemisorption. This study shows that CAl is a promising adsorbent for the removal of BPA and IBP.
In this work, palm shell waste powder activated carbon coated by magnesium silicate (PPAC-MS) were synthesized by the impregnation of magnesium silicate (MgSiO3) using economical material (silicon dioxide powder) via mild hydrothermal approach for the first time. As an effective adsorbent, PPAC-MS simultaneously removes BPA and Pb(II) in single and binary mode. Surprisingly, PPAC-MS exhibited a homogeneous thin plate mesh-like structure, as well as meso- and macropores with a high surface area of 772.1m2g-1. Due to its specific morphological characteristics, PPAC-MS had adsorption capacities of Pb(II) as high as 419.9mgg-1 and 408.8mgg-1 in single mode and binary mode based on Freudliuch isotherm model while those for BPA by PPAC-MS were 168.4mgg-1 and 254.7mgg-1 for single mode and binary modes corresponding to Langmuir isotherm model. Experiment results also indicated that the synergistic removal of BPA occurred because the precipitation process of Pb(II) leads to the co-precipitation of BPA with Pb(OH)2 compound. PPAC-MS showed a good reusability for 5 regeneration cycles using Mg(II) solution followed by thermal treatment. Overall, PPAC-MS has a high potential in the treatment process for wastewater containing both toxic heavy metals and emerging pollutants due to its high sorption capacities and reusability.
In this study, palm shell activated carbon powder (PSAC) and magnesium silicate (MgSiO3) modified PSAC (MPSAC) were thoroughly investigated for fluoride (F-) adsorption. F- adsorption isotherms showed that PSAC and MPSAC over-performed some other reported F- adsorbents with adsorption capacities of 116 mg g-1 and 150 mg g-1, respectively. Interestingly, the MgSiO3 impregnated layer changed the adsorption behavior of F- from monolayer to heterogeneous multilayer based on the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models verified by chi-square test (X2). Thermodynamic parameters indicated that the F- adsorption on PSAC and MPSAC was spontaneous and exothermic. PSAC and MPSAC were characterized using FESEM-EDX, XRD, FTIR and XPS to investigate the F- adsorption mechanism. Based on the regeneration tests using NaOH (0.01 M), PSAC exhibited poor regeneration (<20%) while MPSAC had steady adsorption efficiencies (∼70%) even after 5 regeneration cycles. This is due to highly polarized C-F bond was found on PSAC while Mg-F bond was distinguished on MPSAC, evidently denoting that the F- adsorption is mainly resulted from the exchange of hydroxyl (-OH) group. It was concluded that PSAC would be a potential adsorbent for in-situ F- groundwater remediation due to its capability to retain F- without leaching out in a wide range pH. MPSAC would be an alternative adsorbent for ex-situ F- water remediation because it can easily regenerate with NaOH solution. With the excellent F- adsorption properties, both PSAC and MPSAC offer as promising adsorbents for F- remediation in the aqueous phase.