Development of Activated Carbon from Pineapple Crown Wastes and Its Potential Use for Removal of Methylene Blue

Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of agro-industrial residues to produce biomass-based activated carbon to remove methylene blue may be one of the most promising alternatives to solve industrial wastewater problems, as well as agro-industrial waste. This work purposes an alternative for the development of pineapple crown waste (PC) as activated carbon (ACPC) by chemical activation using NaOH and pyrolysis for the removal of methylene blue (MB). The material was characterized by CHNS-O, SEM, BET, XRD, FTIR, and TGA. For the non-linear study of the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherms, the parameter investigated was the initial concentration (10, 25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg.L−1). Experimental results revealed the suitability of pineapple crown waste to be used as a precursor for activated carbon. According to the Langmuir non-linear model, ACPC presented a maximum adsorption capacity of 292 mg.g−1. The good MB removal capacity by ACBP is due to pores structure. Pineapple crown waste can be used as an alternative cleaner for an ecologically adsorbent.