METHYLENE BLUE ADSORPTION USING ACTIVATED CARBON MADE FROM IMPERATA (IMPERATA CILINDRICA)

• Main Author: Alfitrasyah Achmad, Aditya
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Kimia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/69249
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The development of the chemical industry is currently growing rapidly and causing a problem, namely the pollution of industrial waste to the environment. The textile industry is one of the producers of waste that contains dyes such as methylene blue. Methylene blue is a cationic dye that is widely used for fabric dyeing processes. The adsorption method is one of the efforts to reduce the concentration of methylene blue in wastewater. In this study, the adsorbent was made from reeds which were carbonized and activated by several variations of acids, namely HCl, HNO3, and H2SO4 to adsorb methylene blue. The purpose of this study was to modify the adsorbent, characterize the adsorbent using FTIR and SEM-EDS, and test the performance of the adsorbent. The principle of this research is based on measuring the absorbance of methylene blue dye using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer in the wavelength range of 650-700 nm. The optimum conditions for adsorption were studied under various conditions, namely pH and contact time. Optimal conditions for carbonization of reeds using a furnace were obtained at a temperature of 500 oC for 40 minutes. Charcoal was characterized before activation and after activation using FTIR, which obtained C?C, C=C, C-O, and C-H groups. The results of SEM-EDS characterization, which showed the formation of pores on the surface of the adsorbent and there were differences in the shape and size of the pores, where the average pore size for carbon before activation was larger than the average pore size after activation. The spread of carbon on the surface of the adsorbent that has not been activated is greater than after activation. The results of optimization of adsorption of methylene blue at various pH and contact time showed that activated carbon HNO3 worked optimally at pH 5 with an optimum contact time of 10 hours, activated carbon H2SO4 worked optimally at pH 6 with an optimum contact time of 10 hours, and activated carbon HCl worked optimally at pH 5 with an optimum contact time of 10 hours.