Preparation of High-Performance Adsorbent From Low-Cost Agricultural Waste (Peanut Husk) Using Full Factorial Design: Application to Dye Removal

Abstract

Dye pollution becomes one of the significant environmental concerns nowadays. The adsorption technique is a potent method for the removal of the dye from wastewater effluents. Conventional activated carbon is one of the best adsorbents for dye removal. However, it is constraint due to high cost, and problems with regeneration hamper large scale applications. The alternative method using low-cost adsorbent is being introduced to replace the activated carbon since they are available in large quantities, renewable and inexpensive. Hence, peanut husk (Canavalia Ensiformis) as absorbent was investigated for its potential in Malachite Green (MG) dye removal. The effects of dye concentration (25 and 100 mg/L), temperature (30 and 60 °C), and adsorbent dosage (25 and 100 mg) on MG dye removal percentage were designed and optimized using two levels full factorial design. Based on the optimization process, it was determined that the 25 mg/L of dye concentration, 60 °C of temperature, and 100mg of adsorbent dosage resulted in the highest removal efficiency of 84.85 % and 91.83 % for untreated and treated adsorbent, respectively. In conclusion, treated peanut husk has shown its great potential as low-cost adsorbent based on the removal efficiency.