Modification of coal fly ash waste by using core-shell method for Cu²⁺ adsorbent material

Abstract

This research aimed to study: (1) the utilization of fly ash waste as an adsorbent for the heavy metal ion of Cu2+ (2) the effect of variations in adsorbent contact time on the adsorption capacity of Cu2+, (3) the effect of mass variation and activator on the adsorption capacity of Cu2+ ion. This study was divided into some stages, i.e. fly ash preparation, activation, Fe3O4 preparation, Fe3O4@fly ash nanocomposite synthesis, adsorption process, and characterization analysis. Determination of the functional groups of the adsorbent using a Fourier-Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy. The analysis of the adsorbent’s crystal structure was done using X-ray diffraction. In contrast, the effectiveness of fly ash waste as an adsorbent and the effect of contact time on capacity was done using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Based on the results, it was concluded that: (1) fly ash modified using the core-shell method could be used as an adsorbent for Cu2+ ions. (2) there was no change in the structure of the adsorbent before and after the activation. (3) the optimum contact time of the metal ion Cu2+ adsorption by the adsorbent was 120 minutes using the sample D1 (non-PEG 4000 + 3 g Fly Ash NaOH + 3 g Fe3O4) with 71% adsorption power and adsorption capacity was 0.28368 mg/g.