Green Functionalization of Activated Carbon for Dye Removal Application

Abstract

A study of water as the agent of functionalization is still new since most of researchers used acid as the agent of functionalization. The objective of this study is to investigate the used of water as a medium of functionalization of commercialized activated carbon in order to be used in removal of methylene blue dyes from synthetic wastewater via adsorption. The parameters for functionalization of the commercialized activated carbon included temperature at 35°C, contact time of 5 hours and various frequency at 100, 150 and 200 rpm. The experiment was conducted in a batch process where the commercialized activated carbon were functionalized under the mentioned parameters. The functionalized activated carbon were characterized using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) Spectroscopy. The FTIR analysis indicated the increase of the amount of functional group attached to the activated carbon. The dye adsorption study was conducted by using methylene blue solution with initial concentration of 500 ppm as adsorbate and the functionalized activated carbon as adsorbent. A standard calibration curve for methylene blue solution was generated using of Ultraviolet-Visible (Uv-Vis) Spectrophotometer. The result from the adsorption study was the parameter of temperature at 35°C, contact time of 5 hours and varying water bath shaker frequency at 100 rpm yield the best adsorption rate.