Production of oil palm frond activated carbon by microwave-assisted phosphoric acid activation for removal of Remazol Brilliant Orange 3R: Response surface methodology optimization

• Published in: BIOMASS CONVERSION AND BIOREFINERY
• Main Authors: Amalin, Baiq Rusma Jatuwita; Zainal, Nahrul Hayawin; Jawad, Ali H.; Yong, Soon Kong
• Format: Article; Early Access
• Language: English
• Published: SPRINGER HEIDELBERG 2024
• Subjects: Energy & Fuels; Engineering
• Online Access: https://www-webofscience-com.uitm.idm.oclc.org/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001405193000001
• ISSN: 2190-6815; 2190-6823
• DOI: 10.1007/s13399-024-06351-1

Oil palm frond (OPF) is an underutilized biomass that can be a feedstock for producing activated carbon (OPFAC) for Remazol Brilliant Orange 3R (RBO3R) removal. In this study, phosphoric acid (H3PO4) was used as a chemical activator, and microwave irradiation was used as rapid heating source for preparing OPFAC that possesses large surface area with high porosity for a high sorption capacity. The physicochemical properties of the OPFAC were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), BET surface area, and pHpzc. The specific surface area of OPFAC (376.4 m2/g) indicates production of mesoporous activated carbon with a pHpzc of 5.06. Optimized adsorption parameters are 0.06 g OPFAC, 50 mg/L initial RBO3R dye concentration at pH 2 for 60 min. Batch sorption study has found that the adsorption of RBO3R molecule onto OPFAC surface is following the Langmuir isotherm model with maximum sorption capacity of 155.1 mg/g. The pseudo-first-order (PFO) model is the best fit for the kinetic study, as it has a lower root mean square deviation (RMSD) value of 2.13 compared to the pseudo-second-order (PSO) model, which has an RMSD value of 6.50. This lower RMSD indicates that the PFO model's calculated qe values align more closely with the experimentally determined qe values across all concentrations. Adsorption thermodynamic study showed the endothermic property of the sorption performance by the positive Delta Ho value and the increase in temperature will promote the RBO3R removal.