Comparison of bentonite and zeolite as adsorbent purification process of patchouli oil (Pogostemon cablin)

Abstract

Many attempts to distill of patchouli oil from patchouli plants (Pogostemon cablin) are used the simple method, therefore the patchouli oil that produced does not have the best quality. The yield of patchouli oil is dark because it contains Fe metal. The content of patchouli alcohol compound is still low whereas patchouli alcohol is the main component of patchouli oil. Various ways can be done to purify patchouli oil, one of them is adsorption process. This study aimed to compare the advantages and disadvantages of bentonite and zeolite as adsorbent purification process of patchouli oil. Bentonite and Zeolite can be utilised as adsorbents because their properties and absorbency are influenced by the presence of pore spaces between the clay mineral bonds and the imbalance of electrical charges in their ions. After adsorption, there was a decrease in Fe content and increase in patchouli alcohol level. However, significant increases occur in bentonite adsorption, this is due to several influencing factors including activating acid type, cation type, Si/Al ratio, and pore geometry including inner surface area, pore size distribution, and pore shape. It can be concluded that in purification process of patchouli oil, bentonite has higher adsorption power than zeolite.