Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
  • Publication
    Adsorption of basic green 4 onto gasified Glyricidia sepium woodchip based activated carbon: optimization, characterization, batch and column study
    (Scientific Scholar, 2020) ;
    Azam Taufik Mohd Din
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    Nasehir Khan EM Yahaya
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    Mohd Azmier Ahmad
    The abundance of gasification char residues which contributed to solid waste management problem is one of the major concerns in biomass gasification industry. This study focuses on synthesizing gasified Glyricidia sepium woodchip based activated carbon (GGSWAC) for the removal of basic green 4 (BG4) dye, evaluating the GGSWAC physicochemical properties and assessing the BG4 adsorption performance in batch and fixed-bed column systems. The optimal conditions of GGSWAC synthesis were at radiation power, time, and impregnation ratio (IR) of 616 W, 1 min and 1.93 g/g, respectively. The surface area (SBET) and total pore volume (TPV) of GGSWAC were 633.30 m2/g and 0.34 cm3/g, respectively. The Fritz–Schlünder best fitted to the experimental data at all temperatures in the isothermal studies, indicating a monolayer adsorption. The kinetic study showed that BG4 adsorption followed Avrami kinetic model. Based on thermodynamic parameters, the adsorption of BG4 dye onto GGSWAC was an endothermic and spontaneous process. In continuous operation, the Thomas and Yoon–Nelson models successfully predicted BG4 adsorption onto GGSWAC. The low production cost of 0.54 USD/kg showed that GGSWAC is economically feasible for commercialization.
  • Publication
    Valorization of face mask waste as an adsorbent for cationic dye adsorption
    (Desalination Publications, 2023)
    Goy Khai Sze
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    ;
    The increasing environmental pollution caused by the disposal of untreated dye-containing effluent and face mask wastes in landfills has become a significant concern. To address this issue, this work focuses on the utilization of face mask wastes as alternative adsorbents for the adsorption of malachite green (MG) dye. These adsorbents offer advantages such as ease of operation, cost-effectiveness, high efficiency, and ready availability. In this study, the raw face mask wastes (RFM) undergo a thermal treatment process in a furnace at 800°C for 21 h before conducting the adsorption tests. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis revealed the presence of various functional groups, including alkane, alkene, alcohol, and carbonyl, in both the treated face mask adsorbent (TFMA) and RFM. The scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis displayed the surface morphologies of RFM as a porous and homogeneous carbon sorbent structure, while TFMA exhibited a heterogeneous and flaky structure. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis indicated that RFM primarily consisted of carbon elements, followed by oxygen and calcium elements, whereas TFMA predominantly comprised calcium and oxygen elements with a limited amount of carbon. The adsorption experiments, considering various parameters such as initial dye concentration (1,000–1,200 mg/L) and contact time (5–1,500 min), demonstrated that increasing the contact time and initial concentration led to an enhanced adsorption capacity. The maximum adsorption capacity of 2,127 mg/g confirmed the effectiveness of TFMA as an adsorbent for MG. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. The isotherm and kinetic studies showed a good fit between the adsorption data and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and pseudo-second-order models as evidenced by high R2 values and low error function values, suggesting a heterogenous adsorption of MG on TFMA.
  • Publication
    Effective removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution by adsorption onto gasification char: isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamics studies
    (Elsevier, 2023)
    Nurul Najihah Ahmad
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    This study presents the preparation of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) activated char from gas-ification plant residues via phosphoric acid chemical treatment for adsorption of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution. The Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis were conducted to identify the characteristic of OPEFB. Adsorption experiments were carried out to determine the effects of initial dye concentration 100–300 mg/L, contact time, pH 2–10 and temperature 30°C–60°C. The optimum conditions were achieved at adsorbent dosage, pH, initial dye concentration and temperature of 0.2 g/200 mL, 6, 100 mg/L and 60°C, respectively with 91.44% of MB removal. From isotherm study, the Freundlich isotherm model fitted the adsorption data very well owing to its higher value of correlation factor (R2 = 0.9352), compared to Langmuir model (R2 = 0.8682). The Langmuir maximum monolayer capac-ity, qm was estimated at 167.2 mg/g. The results from the kinetic study showed that the MB adsorp-tion followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 = 0.9216–0.9581). The adsorption of the MB dye onto OPEFB activated char was an endothermic and spontaneous process with ΔH°, ΔG° and ΔS° values of 58.379 kJ/mol, –0.70505 kJ/mol and 194.955 J/mol‧K, respectively. The obtained results suggest that the OPEFB char could be a promising candidate as an adsorbent for MB removal.
  • Publication
    Gasification char adsorbent for dye removal: characterization, isotherm, kinetics and thermodynamic studies
    (Springer, 2025)
    Valarmathi Saravanan
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    Mohd Azmier Ahmad
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    Previous research has shown GC's reliable performance as an adsorbent in water and wastewater treatment, but broader applications remain underexplored. This study focuses on treating GC with KOH to eliminate methylene blue (MB) dye. The FTIR results indicated an enrichment of carbonyl groups on the GC surface, which enhanced the rate of MB adsorption. SEM analysis of both treated and untreated GC revealed that the treated char exhibited prominently developed pores and displayed a distinct open-porous structure, reminiscent of a honeycomb-like porous formation. The result from Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis reveals that BET surface area (469.27 m2/g) and total pore volume (0.2728 cm3/g) of treated GC improved after activation. Increasing the initial concentration of MB from 100 to 250 mg/L resulted in a decrease in its removal from 82.1 to 50.87%, respectively. Meanwhile, raising the pH from 3 to 9 enhanced MB adsorption from 85.46 to 97.06%. As the temperature increased from 30 to 60 Â°C, the adsorption process accelerated, leading to an increase in the percentage of dye removal from 89.11 to 96.63%. Matlab curve fitting tools were used to fit non-linear isotherm and kinetic models. The n-BET isotherm and Pseudo-First-Order (PFO) kinetic models demonstrated an excellent fit to the experimental data, evidenced by the highest R2 values, specifically 0.99206 and 0.9577–0.9855, respectively. These findings strongly suggest a multilayer adsorption process taking place on the uniform surface of treated GC. Thermodynamic analysis affirms the endothermic and spontaneous nature of the adsorption process, corroborated by negative ΔG° and positive ΔH° values ranging from -11.0722 to -8.1916 kJ/mol and from 0.694 to 0.857 kJ/mol, respectively.
  • Publication
    Honeycomb-like porous-activated carbon derived from gasification waste for malachite green adsorption: equilibrium, kinetic, thermodynamic and fixed-bed column analysis
    (Elsevier, 2020) ;
    Mohd Azmier Ahmad
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    Nasehir Khan E.M. Yahaya
    ;
    Azam Taufik Mohd Din
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    In this study, the preparation conditions for the gasification waste-based activated carbon (GWAC) were optimized with malachite green (MG) dye removal and GWAC yield as responses. The adsorption equilibrium, kinetic behavior, and thermodynamics properties were also ana-lyzed. The optimum conditions for synthesizing GWAC were found at a radiation power, time, and impregnation ratios of 616 W, 1 min, and 1.06 g g–1, respectively, which resulted in an 89.98% yield of GWAC and 99.01% MG removal. This sample shows the surface area and total pore volume of 351.92 m2 g–1 and 0.22 cm3, respectively. For the isotherm study, the Fritz–Schlünder model fitted the adsorption data very well with an R2 value of 0.9919–0.9932. The results of the kinetic study showed that the MG adsorption followed a pseudo-first-order kinetic model (R2 = 0.9625–0.9871). The film diffusion was found to be the rate-limiting step of MG adsorption. The adsorption of the MG dye onto GWAC was an endothermic and spontaneous process with ΔH of 9.183 kJ mol–1. In continuous mode, Thomas and Yoon–Nelson models successfully predicted the MG adsorption on the GWAC. GWAC demonstrates its commercial feasibility based on a low production cost of 0.23 USD kg–1.
      20  4
  • Publication
    Atenolol sequestration using activated carbon derived from gasified Glyricidia sepium
    (Elsevier, 2020) ;
    Azam Taufik Mohd Din
    ;
    Nasehir Khan E.M. Yahaya
    ;
    Jamilah Karim
    ;
    Mohd Azmier Ahmad
    Activated carbon (AC) derived from gasified Glyricidia sepium woodchip (GGSWAC) was prepared using KOH and CO2 activation via microwave radiation technique to remove atenolol (ATN) from aqueous solution. The surface area (SBET) and total pore volume (TPV) of GGSWAC were 483.07 m2/g and 0.255 cm3, respectively. The n-BET model fits well with the isothermal data indicating a multilayer adsorption with the saturation capacity of 121, 143 and 163 mg/g at 30, 45 and 60 °C, respectively. The kinetic study showed that ATN adsorption followed Avrami model equation (R2 ≅ 0.99). Based on the thermodynamic parameters, the adsorption of ATN onto GGSWAC was endothermic (ΔHS = 234.17 kJ/mol) in the first layer of adsorption and exothermic in the subsequent layer (ΔHL = −165.62 kJ/mol). The ATN adsorption was controlled by both diffusion and chemisorption. In continuous operation, the Thomas (R2 = 0.9822) and Yoon–Nelson (R2 = 0.9817) models successfully predicted the ATN adsorption.
      9  4