Abstract
Heavy metals have previously been removed from aqueous media using activated carbon as an adsorbent but due to its high cost, researchers are working to develop low-cost adsorbents from agricultural products and by-products. In this research, fresh banana peels were utilised as raw materials, and they were subsequently carbonised using the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) method to generate an efficient hydrochar adsorbent with the participation of potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution. Pure standard of Fe, Mn and Zn were used as the stock solution for the heavy metal ions removal. The catalysis of KOH with concentration ranging from 0% to 50% by weight were utilized as the reaction media. Parameters including the dosage, metal concentrations, contact time and pH value were carefully investigated. According to the results of concentrations of heavy metals before and after adsorption obtained from AAS, hydrochar produced in 30%wt KOH exhibit the most adsorption capacity and Zn removal exhibit the highest adsorption among all three metal ions used at 83% removal efficiency. The presence of a high number of oxygen functional groups (OFG) is confirmed by FTIR findings, that influence the adsorption reaction. As a result, chemically modified banana peels can be used as a low-cost alternative to other expensive adsorbents for heavy metal removal, and HTC could be a viable technique for producing low-cost adsorbents.
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