Breakthrough studies for the sorption of methylene blue dye from wastewater samples using activated carbon derived from waste banana peels

Abstract

In the current study, an activated carbon derived from waste banana peel using H2SO4 was applied for the first time in a packed-bed column for methylene blue (MB) dye removal from wastewater. The pore structure and surface of banana peel activated carbon (BPAC) were investigated using X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis to discover the mechanism of MB sorption. The produced BPAC by H2SO4 activation agent has surface area of 361.86 m2/g and exhibits good thermal stability. The extent of MB breakthrough performance was examined by optimizing flow rate, bed mass, and initial concentration at pH 9. The column’s dynamics revealed a strong dependence of breakthrough curves as a function of process conditions. The breakthrough time (tb), volume of liters processed (L), and adsorption exhaustion rate all increased as bed mass increased but decreased as flow rate and initial concentration increased. Applying linear regression to the experimental data, Yoon-Nelson and Thomas’ kinetic model was used to extract column characteristic parameters that could be used in process design. Using environmental water, the waste banana peel activated carbon material demonstrated effectiveness in removing MB to below acceptable levels by processing 1.16 L of water with an initial MB concentration of 40 mg/L using 8 g of sorbent. Nitric acid (3M) was able to regenerate the exhausted bed. Moreover, the sorbent was reused four times with no significant capacity loss. It can be concluded that waste banana peel activated carbon medium is an alternative solution to remediate MB-contaminated wastewater.

A novel starch‐based composite hydrogel enhanced by activated charcoal from the banana peel for water decontamination

“…Regarding divalent cations (Zn 2+ , Cd 2+ , Ni 2+ , Mn 2+ , and Cu 2+ ) uptake, a low removal efficiency (less than 9%) was obtained for both developed hydrogels, while for AC, there was a good removal percentage for Cu 2+ (80.39%), followed by Zn 2+ (18.49%), Cd 2+ (15.69%), Mn 2+ (12.23%), and Ni 2+ (9.86%). The high removal of Cu 2+ by AC may be related to its high specific surface area with numerous pores (Figure 4), besides to a negatively charged surface under the experimental conditions used during the sorption process with few oxygen functional groups 84–86 . The greater removal of Cu 2+ concerning the other divalent cations can be explained by the binding strength parameters of the investigated metals, such as electronegativity and covalent character, favoring the coordination of the complexes formed between the functional groups of AC and Cu 2+ .…”

Application of coal fly ash for trace metal adsorption from wastewater: A review

“…This method has a wide range of advantages such as the generation of a small amount of sludge, reusability of the adsorbents, a simple design to operate, availability of raw materials, cost-effectiveness, automaticity, reasonable technical maturity, eco-friendly technique, and low-cost synthesized adsorbents that are commercially supplied [ 14 , 31 , 32 ]. The adsorption process can utilize adsorbents produced from different waste raw materials such as waste tire-activated carbon, polymers and fruit peels due to the characteristics of lignin, pectin, cellulose and hemicellulose which provide metal binding sites facilitating their removal [ [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] ]. The adsorbent is an integral part that captures pollutants onto itself and adsorbents can either be conventional or non-conventional.…”

Banana Peel Powder Biosorbent for Removal of Hazardous Organic Pollutants from Wastewater

“…The use of dried banana peel powder (BPP) as a biosorbent material has been explored for the decontamination of wastewater, mainly in the removal of textile dyes [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], heavy metals [ 21 , 22 , 23 ], crude oil [ 24 ], phenolic compounds [ 25 ], pharmaceuticals [ 26 , 27 ], and pesticides [ 27 , 28 , 29 ], as has been well documented in two relatively recent reviews [ 16 , 30 ]. Most studies reporting banana peel-based biosorbents have shown efficient biosorbent reuse up to five cycles and above [ 16 , 31 ]. As for all biomass-derived biosorbents, the utilization of banana peel in wastewater treatment applications, while showing promising academic potential, does have some limitations for real-world scenario applications that must be further addressed, including issues related to stability, variability in sorption capacity, scale-up challenges, and regeneration/reusability concerns.…”