Banana blossom peels adsorbent for the removal of manganese in water

• Main Author: Rudi, Nurul Nadia
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English; English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: T Technology (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/8334/1/24p%20NURUL%20NADIA%20RUDI.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/8334/2/NURUL%20NADIA%20RUDI%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/8334/3/NURUL%20NADIA%20RUDI%20WATERMARK.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/8334/
• Institution: Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

Manganese is one of the persistent heavy metals detected in surface water lately that has become an environmental concern because manganese poses negative impacts to the ecosystem and water supply. This study investigates the effectiveness of banana blossom peels (BBP) as an adsorbent for the removal of manganese in water. The BBP adsorbent was activated via chemical treatment method. The Water Quality Index for Sungai Panchor revealed that the river is classified in Class II as clean river with the highest manganese concentration of 0.575 mg/L detected by using ICP-OES. FESEM-EDX analysis showed the morphology of BBP adsorbent was crimped with deeper dents, rough internals surface, and dense in nature, providing maximum surface area for the adsorption process. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of carboxyl and hydroxyl groups in BBP adsorbent that contribute to the adsorption process. XRD analysis showed that the structure of the BBP adsorbent is amorphous. BET surface area of BBP adsorbent was 2.12 m2/g with the total pore volume of 0.0139 cm3/g and average pore diameter of 64.35 nm. Batch adsorption study evaluated the parameters affecting the adsorption process, which include pH, adsorbent dosage, initial manganese concentration, and contact time. The optimum condition was attained at pH 7, adsorbent dosage of 0.5 g, 10 mg/L initial manganese concentration, and 150 minutes contact time. The adsorption isotherm study demonstrated that the Langmuir isotherm model best fit BBP adsorption toward manganese with R2 > 0.9963. The adsorption of manganese followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics representing the chemisorption process. The maximum desorption rate of 92% was achieved in the first cycle, with a recovery rate of 94.18% within 30 minutes using 0.1M HCl. The BBP adsorbent able to remove 55% manganese in Sungai Panchor water sample with an initial manganese concentration of 0.095 mg/L. This study suggests that BBP adsorbent has the potential to be used as an adsorbent for manganese removal in surface water.