Characterization of chitosan-combined eggshell adsorbent

Abstract

Methylene blue, a harmful waste to the environment and health, is a widely used dye in many industries, so a proper but low-cost and environmentally friendly removal process is required to solve this problem. This research work proposes the combination of chitosan on the eggshell-based adsorbent. The prepared adsorbent is studied in terms of its characteristic from several basic characterizations and removal performance on methylene blue dye. The results of this research showed that eggshell adsorbent combined with chitosan at a ratio of 2:1 shows promising adsorption efficiency for methylene blue of 88% with adsorption capacity of 0.5331 mg/g. The SEM imaging detects a pore size of 4.061 μm on the eggshell - chitosan adsorbent which combined at a ratio of 2:1. From the XRD pattern, the combined eggshell (2): chitosan (1) adsorbent is showed to have the highest peak of Ca 3 Fe 2 (SiO 4 ) 3 compound which indicates the high level of calcium. FTIR analysis confirmed the increasing intensity of OH groups on combined adsorbent due to presence of chitosan. XRF analysis showed the presence more types of impurity that is in the eggshell adsorbent without the addition of chitosan.