Publication: Sesbania-derived activated carbon for Paracetamol removal from synthetic Wastewater
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Date
2024-01-01
Authors
Al-Howri Basem, Mohammed Mahfoodh
Journal Title
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Abstract
The surge of chemicals, including pharmaceuticals, in sewage and waterways
poses a critical environmental challenge. To combat this, adsorption has emerged as a
widely adopted, cost-effective method for water treatment. This research targets at
escalating paracetamol contamination resulting from COVID-19 treatment, using
sesbania as a natural adsorbent. Additionally, it strives to convert dangerous invasive
species into valuable activated carbon. This comprehensive study focuses on the
preparation of activated carbon from sesbania and tests multiple parameters that
influence its efficiency. The effects of calcination temperature (450, 500, and 600 ℃),
the type of acids used for activation process before calcination (HCl, H3PO4, and
H2SO4), and the amount of aluminium chloride added were investigated. Optimal
conditions were determined, with calcination temperature is 450 oC, H3PO4 is the
preferred acid, and 0.5 g of aluminium chloride is the optimum amount added to
sesbania raw material. After calcination the thermal activation at 90 oC for 24 hr
proved as the best technique to activate sesbania-derived activated carbon. The
prepared adsorbent was then evaluated through various parameters, including
adsorbent dosage, initial concentrations, temperatures, mixing rate, and pH. Results
demonstrated that 0.75 g of adsorbent exhibited the highest removal of 89.19%. The
adsorption capacity increasing with increasing the initial concentration of the
paracetamol solution, and the ideal temperature obtained is 40 oC. For mixing rate, the
optimal condition for paracetamol removal was found is 100 rpm, and at acidic
medium with pH 5. The chemical and physical characteristics were assessed using SEM-EDX, FTIR, and BET studies revealing significant structural difference between
the sesbania raw material and the generated activated carbon. Surface area and pore
volume of the produced activated carbon were 478.98 m2
/g and 0.244 cm3
/g,
respectively. Kinetics and thermodynamics analyses indicated that the paracetamol
adsorption onto sesbania-derived activated carbon followed pseudo-second order and
Redlich-Peterson isotherm model, respectively with exothermic processes favoured
thermodynamically. These findings provide valuable insights into the optimal
production and performance of sesbania-derived activated carbon for effective
paracetamol removal. This research proved sesbania-derived activated carbon is a
sustainable solution for paracetamol removal from water.