Preparation and characterization of chitosan/feldspar biohybrid as an adsorbent: optimization of adsorption process via response surface modeling

Microwave‐assisted production of biochar from oil palm mesocarp fiber and its dye removal properties

Malaysia is one of the largest producers of palm oil in the world, which inevitably would also result in huge production of oil palm biomass. Without proper management, this biomass could pose serious environmental problems. Oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) is one type of oil palm biomass which can be processed further for useful application such as dye removal from water. In the present study, OPMF was thermally treated using microwave‐assisted pyrolysis. The sample was characterized (proximate, ultimate, lignin content, BET, FTIR, and SEM) and investigated using thermogravimetric analyzer. The activation energy and pre‐exponential factor achieved from the Kissinger, Kissinger‐Akahira‐Sunose (KAS) and Ozawa‐Flynn‐Wall (OFW) methods were 159.74, 161.90, 163.29 kJ mol−1, and 1.02 × 10−10, 1.90 × 10−13, 3.79 × 10−17 min−1, respectively. The dye removal performance was evaluated using methylene blue (MB) with parameters of initial concentration of MB, contact time, biochar dosage, temperature and pH. The kinetics of MB removal by OPMF was best described using the pseudo‐second order kinetic model, followed by Elovich, pseudo‐first order and Weber‐Morris. As a conclusion, OPMF generated from oil palm processing has the potential to be used as alternative raw materials to produce biochar for dye removal application.

Nano-magnetic walnut shell-rice husk for Cd(II) sorption: design and optimization using artificial intelligence and design expert

This study attempted to investigate the use of nanomagnetic activated carbon prepared from walnut shell and rice husk wastes for removal of Cd(II) from aqueous solution via application of ANN and design expert as adsorbent preparation design and optimization tools. The novel adsorbent was characterized using SEM, FTIR, EDS and BET. The result from 2-level factorial design expert revealed 78.58% Cd(II) sorption efficiency could be achieved for adsorbent prepared at optimum calcination temperature, calcination time, SS-RH mixing ratio and magnetite loading of 859.20 °C, 2.32 h, 2.54 and 5.56 wt% respectively. Sensitivity analysis by both proposed methodologies revealed calcination temperature as most influential factor in adsorbent preparation. Average relative errors and R2 values of 1.2931% and 4.806%; and 0.9967 and 0.9055 obtained respectively for developed ANN model with 4-9-1 architecture and 2-level factorial design expert revealed ANN model as better prediction and optimization tool for Cd(II) sorption using NM-WS-RH-AC. Laboratory analysis revealed presence of -OH, -NH and COO- groups on adsorbent surface; presence of Cd(II) after adsorption; change in adsorbent textural and morphological structure after Cd(II) adsorption; and increase in its surface area and average pore diameter due to magnetization. Average relatively stable desorption strength of 62.74% towards Cd(II) was exhibited by adsorbent for four consecutive cycles using 0.1M HNO3. Prepared adsorbent is effective in removing Cd(II) from solution than commercial activated carbon with economically viable regeneration attribute.

Preparation, characterization, and dye removal study of activated carbon prepared from palm kernel shell

Palm oil mill wastes (palm kernel shell (PKS)) were used to prepare activated carbons, which were tested in the removal of colorants from water. The adsorbents were prepared by 1-h impregnation of PKS with ZnCl₂ as the activating agent (PKS:ZnCl₂ mass ratios of 1:1 and 2:1), followed by carbonization in autogenous atmosphere at 500 and 550 °C during 1 h. The characterization of the activated carbons included textural properties (porosity), surface chemistry (functional groups), and surface morphology. The dye removal performance of the different activated carbons was investigated by means of the uptake of methylene blue (MB) in solutions with various initial concentrations (25-400 mg/L of MB) at 30 °C, using a 0.05-g carbon/50-mL solution relationship. The sample prepared with 1:1 PKS:ZnCl₂ and carbonized at 550 °C showed the highest MB adsorption capacity (maximum uptake at the equilibrium, q _max = 225.3 mg MB / g adsorbent), resulting from its elevated specific surface area (BET, 1058 m²/g) and microporosity (micropore surface area, 721 m²/g). The kinetic experiments showed that removals over 90% of the equilibrium adsorptions were achieved after 4-h contact time in all the cases. The study showed that palm oil mill waste biomass could be used in the preparation of adsorbents efficient in the removal of colorants in wastewaters.

Highly efficient simultaneous adsorption of Cd(ii), Hg(ii) and As(iii) ions from aqueous solutions by modification of graphene oxide with 3-aminopyrazole: central composite design optimization

Efficient simultaneous adsorption of heavy metal ions from solutions by modified graphene oxide with 3-aminopyrazole using central composite design modeling.

The optimization of Marasmius androsaceus submerged fermentation conditions in five-liter fermentor

Using desirability function, four indexes including mycelium dry weight, intracellular polysaccharide, adenosine and mannitol yield were uniformed into one expected value (Da) which further served as the assessment criteria. In our present study, Plackett-Burman design was applied to evaluate the effects of eight variables including initial pH, rotating speed, culture temperature, inoculum size, ventilation volume, culture time, inoculum age and loading volume on Da value during Marasmius androsaceus submerged fermentation via a five-liter fermentor. Culture time, initial pH and rotating speed were found to influence Da value significantly and were further optimized by Box-Behnken design. Results obtained from Box-Behnken design were analyzed by both response surface regression (Design-Expert.V8.0.6.1 software) and artificial neural network combining the genetic algorithm method (Matlab2012a software). After comparison, the optimum M. androsaceus submerged fermentation conditions via a five-liter fermentor were obtained as follows: initial pH of 6.14, rotating speed of 289.3 rpm, culture time of 6.285 days, culture temperature of 26 °C, inoculum size of 5%, ventilation volume of 200 L/h, inoculum age of 4 days, and loading volume of 3.5 L/5 L. The predicted Da value of the optimum model was 0.4884 and the average experimental Da value was 0.4760. The model possesses well fitness and predictive ability.