Pomegranate peels as versatile adsorbents for water purification: Application of box–behnken design as a methodological optimization approach

Abstract

Pomegranate peels (PGP) were tested as a green adsorbent for the removal of Ni(II) from contaminated water samples. Both raw (RPG), and char/burnt peels (BPG) were tested. A multivariate analysis approach, Box–Behnken (BB) design was executed to augment the efficiency of BPG as adsorbent. Three factors were considered thereof; contact time (CT), adsorbent dose (AD), and heavy metal concentration (HMC). The percentage of heavy metal removal was the designated response (Y). Main effects plot together with analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to decide on the substantial factors. Obtained results showed that AD was the most significant linear factor, while the interaction between AD*HMC was the most influential two‐way interaction. Contour and response surface plots were used to study the factorial interactions and optimize the response. Desirability function was used to find the best factorial combination for maximum removal of Ni(II). Efficacies of both adsorbents were compared and BPG was more effectual achieving 99.99% removal of Ni(II). Surface morphology was characterized using FTIR, BET, SEM, and EDX analyses. Results indicated that functional groups such as hydroxyl, amino, carboxylic acid are available on surface of PGP and might be responsible for the adsorption process. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38: e13223, 2019

Eco-Structured Biosorptive Removal of Basic Fuchsin Using Pistachio Nutshells: A Definitive Screening Design—Based Approach

“…This finding was further confirmed by the TGA/dTGA analysis, Figure 5, and was previously reported [42]. Similarly, these findings are in alignment with the BET surface area and TGA analyses of other thermally treated adsorbents [19][20][21].…”

“…A common feature among all the adopted trials is the intimate attempts to develop the model or the ideal adsorbent. Such an adsorbent must have particular criteria such as availability at low-cost and without extensive preceding treatment, liability for regeneration, the possibility for application on a large scale, and be green or in other words does not further contaminate the environment or produce a toxic sludge [19][20][21][22][23][24]. Activated carbons are promising adsorbents, yet, being expensive and with an inability to be revitalized they confine their applications on the large scale [25].…”

Bio-Waste Aloe vera Leaves as an Efficient Adsorbent for Titan Yellow from Wastewater: Structuring of a Novel Adsorbent Using Plackett-Burman Factorial Design

“…These data confirmed the loss of some volatile and organic matter at 300 • C and the formation of carbonaceous mass with an advanced pore structure. These findings are in alignment with the BET surface area and the TGA analyses of other thermally treated adsorbents [14][15][16]. On the other hand, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis was used to study the elemental compositions of ADAV and TTAV300.…”

“…Several agricultural waste products (e.g., peels of potatoes, pomegranates, bananas, rice husk, eggshells, crab shells, date pits) have been recycled into adsorbents and were used for the removal of heavy metals, dyes, drugs, etc. [13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

Smart Synthesis of Trimethyl Ethoxysilane (TMS) Functionalized Core–Shell Magnetic Nanosorbents Fe3O4@SiO2: Process Optimization and Application for Extraction of Pesticides

“…Using the univariate analysis (UVA) would neither draw a comprehensive picture on the effect of variables and their interactions nor consolidate the different responses into an individual indicator. Multivariate analysis (MVA), on the contrary, can overcome these intricacies and the obtained data can be treated with a higher degree of assertion [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Therefore, the objective of this work will be to use MVA as an approach in order to assess the effect of synthetic conditions on three features of the resulting nanocomposites (responses and dependent variables: magnetic properties, PS, and PSD).…”