Abstract
This research investigates the potential of the oil palm frond (OPF), a well-known biomass from the oil palm industry, as a feasible silica precursor that can be utilised in the removal of phenol from an aqueous solution. Dried OPF was combusted to obtain OPF ash that was treated with citric acid before being synthesised as silica nanomaterial via the sol-gel method. The FTIR results of synthesised silica exhibit a similar peak with commercially available silica. Silica material was then used for phenol removal under different parameters including pH, contact time, dosage, concentration, and temperature, then analysed using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer. The optimum condition was obtained at pH 7 within 45 mins of contact time using 0.2 g/L silica dosage under 10 ppm of phenol concentration at 303 K that aid in enhancing phenol removal by the OPF-based silica. At this condition, silica nanomaterial successfully removed up to 68% of phenol in an aqueous solution with adsorption capacity of the adsorbent is within the range of 34 mg/g. These results demonstrate the potential application of silica nanomaterial from OPF as an adsorbent in phenol removal from wastewater.
Highlights
Several approaches have been studied extensively for the removal of toxic substances from water and can be divided into biological, chemical, and physical treatment
In the synthesis of silica nanomaterial from oil palm frond (OPF) as silica precursor, modified sol-gel methods were applied and CTAB was chosen as the surfactant that renders the sodium silicate obtained from treated OPF ash to be a white colour powder
The utilisation of OPF as a silica precursor in this research project has shown a positive result when applied as feasible adsorbent material in removing phenol from the aqueous solution
Summary
Several approaches have been studied extensively for the removal of toxic substances from water and can be divided into biological, chemical, and physical treatment. Water pollutants mainly come from human and industrial waste and consist of heavy metal material, biological contaminants, pharmaceutical contaminants that are dangerous to the ecosystem and living things due to their indestructible nature and acute behaviour [1]. Phenol (benzenol) or known as hydroxybenzene with molecular formula C6H5OH, is an aromatic hydrocarbon group bound to the hydroxyl group (-OH). It has various industrial uses and has been utilized widely in dyes production, pesticides, and drugs as intermediate chemicals [2,3]. Phenol physical attributes are identified as white/colourless crystalline powder that is hydroscopic in water and slightly in an organic solvent such as alcohol, glycerol and petroleum that make it easier to leak into groundwater sources or water surface [3]
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