Utilization of durian peel as potential adsorbent for bisphenol a removal in aquoeus solution

This study explored the low-cost adsorbent of durian peel for BPA removal from aqueous solutions. The effect of various operational parameters such as contact time, temperature, concentration, agitation and pH on the adsorption of BPA was investigated using the batch adsorption study. It was found that Durian peel can be used as a low cost adsorbent for the removal of BPA in aqueous solution after treated with sulfuric acid. The effects of morphology, functional groups, and surface area of adsorbent, before and after pretreatment with sulfuric acid and reaction were investigated by using FESEM, FTIR, and BET. The present study indicates that durian peel had removed 69.63% of BPA with adsorption capacity of 4.178 mg/g for 24 hours. The result proved that this treated agricultural waste was promising material as an alternative adsorbent for the removal of BPA from aqueous solution. Kinetic study of the results gave a pseudo-second order type of mechanism while the adsorption characteristics of the adsorbent followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm

Removal of bisphenol a from aqueous solution by adsorbing onto an activated carbon of the agricultural waste

Adsorption of bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting compound, from aqueous media was studied using activated carbon derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) waste. Oil palm EFB waste is a readily available biomass in Malaysia. Annually, Malaysia palm oil mill generates millions tonnes of oil palm EFB waste which is not effectively utilized. In this work, activated carbon was prepared by impregnating EFB for 24 hours in 10% of zinc chloride solution. The impregnated EFB was heated in a horizontal tube furnace under nitrogen flow at 500oC for 1 hour. The samples were characterized by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy. The proximate analysis including moisture content, ash content, bulk density, pH, conductivity and pH at zero charge was conducted to identify the psychochemical properties of the adsorbent. Batch adsorption test was carried out by varying contact time, activated carbon dose, agitation speed, initial BPA concentration, temperature and pH of the solution. The analyses showed that the oval-shaped micro pores were developed in carbon surface causing increase in surface area from 4.29 m2/g to 86.62 m²/g. The highest adsorption removal of BPA achieved up to 96.1% for 48 hours. The equilibrium data were perfectly represented by Langmuir isotherm with maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 41.98 mg/g. Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption process followed the pseudo-secondorder kinetic with a rate constant of 0.3 x10-3 mg/g min. The thermodynamic studies showed that the adsorption capacity increased by the increase in temperature. The results indicate that the activated carbon prepared from EFB has potential as a low cost bio-adsorbent for the removal of BPA from aqueous solution

Potential of the white-rot fungus pleurotus pulmonarius F043 for degradation and transformation of fluoranthene

Fluoranthene, a four-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that is possible genotoxic in nature, has been used as an indicator for assessing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-containing pollutants. Microbial degradation is one of the promising methods in removing up PAH-contaminated environments. White-rot fungi have showed the ability to degrade a wide range of PAHs. This study aimed to investigate enzyme production, fungal biomass, and glucose utilization during the biodegradation process of fluoranthene by a white-rot fungus Pleurotus pulmonarius F043 and to identify the metabolites produced in the degradation process. The extracellular ligninolytic enzyme system of the fungi, producing laccases and peroxidases, was directly linked to the biodegradation of fluoranthene. The production of ligninolytic enzymes during fluoranthene degradation was related to an increase in the biomass of Pleurotus pulmonarius F043. Fluoranthene removal decreased with an increase in fluoranthene concentrations. The highest biomass production of Pleurotus pulmonarius F043 (≥ 4 400 mg L-1) was found in the 10 mg L-1 fluoranthene culture after 30 d of incubation. Two fluoranthene metabolites, naphthalene-1,8-dicarboxylic acid and phthalic acid, were found in the process of fluoranthene degradation. Laccase was revealed as the major enzyme that played an important role in degradation process. Suitable conditions must be found to promote a successful fungal biotransformation augmentation in liquid culture

Enhancement of Growth and Paramylon Production of Euglena gracilis by Upcycling of Spent Tomato Byproduct as an Alternative Medium

Euglena gracilis (E. gracilis) accumulates paramylon, an immune-functional beta-glucan that can be used as a functional food. Paramylon production is strongly affected by the organic carbon source and the initial pH conditions. Food processing byproducts have attracted attention for microalgal cultivation because of their low cost and abundance of nutrients, including carbon and nitrogen. We investigated the optimal carbon source and its concentration for efficient paramylon production. A spent tomato byproduct (STB) generated from a tomato processing plant was applied for biomass and paramylon production from E. gracilis with respect to the initial pH condition. The highest paramylon concentration (1.2 g L−1) and content (58.2%) were observed with 15 g L−1 glucose. The biomass production increased when STB was used as compared with that when a synthetic medium was used (1.6-fold higher at pH 3 and 2-fold higher at pH 8). The optimal initial pH was determined according to the maximum production of biomass and paramylon. Upcycling the food processing byproduct, STB, can contribute not only to cost reduction of the biorefinery process using E. gracilis but also to environmental remediation by removing organic carbon and nitrogen from the byproducts

Removal of bisphenol a from aqueous solution by activated carbon derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch

The potential of the activated carbon prepared from the empty fruit bunch of oil palm wastes to remove bisphenol A (BPA) from aqueous media was investigated. The experiments were performed by varying the contact time, activated carbon dose, initial BPA concentration, and pH of the solution. The Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherm models were employed to discuss the adsorption behavior. The equilibrium data were perfectly represented by the Langmuir isotherm with R 2 of 0.9985. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of the activated carbon was found to be 41.98 mg/g. Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic with a rate constant of 0.3∈×∈10-3/min. The activated carbon was characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, and field emission scanning electron microscopy analyses. The results of the present study indicate that the activated carbon prepared from the empty fruit bunch is a promising candidate as a low-cost bio-adsorbent for the removal of BPA from aqueous solution

Preparation and characterization of activated carbon from oil palm empty fruit bunch wastes using zinc chloride

An oil palm empty fruit bunch-derived activated carbon has been successfully produced by chemical activation with zinc chloride and without chemical activation. The preparation was conducted in the tube furnace at 500oC for 1 h. The surface structure and active sites of activated carbons were characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The proximate analysis including moisture content, ash content, bulk density, pH, and pH at zero charge was conducted to identify the psychochemical properties of the adsorbent. The results showed that the zinc chloride-activated carbon has better characteristics compared to the carbon without chemical activation