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Review study for activated carbon from palm shell used for
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treatment of waste water
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Insert Running head: …………………………………………….
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Fuadi, N.A.* (please insert full name), Ahmmed Saadi Ibrahim, and
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Kamriah Nor Ismail
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Chemical Engineering Faculty, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah
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Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail: ahmadsaadi1@yahoo.com Tel:+6-
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0149360913; Fax:+0603-55443086
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* Corresponding author
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Absrtact
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Activated carbon (AC) is preferred adsorbent for removal of pollutants from
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aqueous phase; however, widespread application is restricted due to its high cost
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especially for higher quality of AC. To reduce the cost, many attempts have been
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made to find inexpensive, abundant precursor for AC synthesis. Some reviews
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report the use of palm shell–which is agricultural waste; for preparation of AC
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as adsorbents for removal of heavy metal, dyes and other pollutants from
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wastewater. The present work reviews and evaluates literature dedicated both
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preparation of AC from palm shell and also its application in wastewater
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treatment. It is proved that palm shell can be used in preparing AC due to its
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high surface areas obtained from either physical or chemical treatment.
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However, the combination of both treatments may enhance the surface
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modification, therefore increasing its adsorption capacity. AC from palm shell
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may replace the conventional AC by optimizing the activation procedures,
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considering the contaminants to be removed.
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Keywords: Palm shell, activated carbon, adsorption, heavy metals, dyes
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Introduction
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Concerns about environmental protection have increased due to the technical
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development which keeps in changing, producing industrial product, as well as waste.
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Manufacturing industry has played an important role for economic growth in major
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countries. This sector provides services and product for better way and quality of life.
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However, rapid change in industrialization produces vast amount of waste and will
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cause harm and deteriorate the environment and ecosystem if improperly managed.
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Pollutants from textiles industry was declared as one of the major sources of
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wastewater in ASEAN country (World Bank Group, 1998) as it is considered as
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possible carcinogenic or mutagen. In dying process, about 10-15% of the dyes lost in
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the effluent. Basic dyes, such as methylene blue widely used as stain is reported by
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Tan et al. (2008) will cause irritation to the gastrointestinal tract if swallowed. Apart
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from that, heavy metals are widely discharged in the wastewater from industries; such
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as cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn)
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as well as mercury (Hg) are very toxic and harmful to living organisms by lowering
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the reproductive success, prevent proper growth and development, and even causing
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death (Alturkmani, 2004). Some of the heavy metals are important for our body
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requirement; however exceeding the tolerance limit may create harm to body
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functions. Alturkmani (2004) reported that the most toxic heavy metals are Cd, Pb
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and Hg ions due to their high attraction for sulphur and will disturb enzyme function
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by forming bond with sulphur. The ions will hinder the transport process through the
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cell wall, therefore disturb the cell function. Other pollutants from the industries are
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phenol; from refineries, petrochemical wastewater, pulp mills and coal mines.
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Presence of phenols in water bodies caused carbolic odor to receiving water bodies,
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thus causing toxic effects on aquatic flora and fauna (Nair, 2008). Apart from that it
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also toxic to humans and effect several biochemical functions (Viraragha-van and
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Maria-alfaro, 1998). The most classic examples of wastewater pollution are
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discharged of wastewater mixed with mercury in Minamata Bay which affects more
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than 10 000 people around 1950s and 1960s. Concerning about Malaysia, most of the
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rivers are polluted and cannot be used as drinking source. According to Department
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of Environment (DOE) 10 percent of rivers in Malaysia are heavily polluted or dead,
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63 percent are polluted and only 27 percent are healthy. These figures show the need
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of wastewater treatment before discharging to rivers or water bodies.
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Therefore, the main objective of the problem is to treat the wastewater before
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discharging to water source, thus decreasing the threat and deterioration to the
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environment and promising better sustainability environment. There are many
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technologies have been developed for purification and treatment of waste water
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including
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dialysis/electro dialysis, electrolytic extraction, reverse osmosis, ion-exchange,
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evaporation, cementation, dilution, adsorption, filtration, flotation, air stripping, steam
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stripping, flocculation, sedimentation and soil flushing/washing chelation (Mohan and
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Singh, 2002). The selection technologies must be analyzed accordingly based on
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several factors such as available space for construction of treatment facilities, ability
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of process equipment, limitation of waste disposal, desired final water quality and
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costs of capital and operating. Mostly, all the technologies listed above is less likely
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to be selected because they required large financial input and their applications is
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limited due to the cost factors predominate the importance of pollution control.
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Adsorption process is found to be the most suitable technique to remove pollutants
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from wastewater. It is mostly preferred due to its convenience, ease of operation and
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simplicity of design. Apart of removing many types of pollutants, it also has wide
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application in water pollution control. AC is widely used as adsorbent due to its high
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surface area and pore volume as well as inert properties. However, conventional AC
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is expensive due to the depletion of coal-based source and especially for producing
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high quality AC (Mohan & Pittman, 2006).
chemical
precipitation,
solvent
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extraction,
oxidation,
reduction,
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To encounter the high cost of AC, low cost precursor has been strong interest
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by researchers to replace the conventional AC. The factors affecting substitution of
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raw material are the raw material; has high carbon content, low in inorganic content,
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high density and sufficient volatile content, stability of supply in the countries,
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potential extent of activation and inexpensive material (Nurul’Ain, 2007). The AC is
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mainly comprised of carbon with large surface area, large pore volume and high
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porosity where the adsorptions take place. As one of the successful and progressive
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leading country on palm oil industry, mainly to produce oil palm, Malaysia produce
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large amount of waste from palm oil (Elaeis guineensis). For every production of 1
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million ton of crude palm oil, 11 million tons of waste are produced; palm fiber, palm
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shell, palm wood and empty fruit bunch (Low, 2011). Only kernel of the fruit and its
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surrounding fiber (mesocarp) are used for oil extraction. Due to the abundant source
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of precursor, which is 0.4 million tons palm shell per every million tons of crude
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palm oil produced, high volatile and carbon contents, palm shell is a suitable
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precursor to replace conventional AC. Utilizing the palm shell for production of AC
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will reduce cost, compared to conventional AC. Moreover, it can be said as
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substitution of waste to wealth.
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There are some reviews reporting the use of palm shell for the production of
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AC (Jumasiah et al., 2005; Issabayeva et al., 2006; Tan et al., 2008; Jia & Lua,
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2008); however such studies are restricted to either type of wastes, preparation
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procedures, or specific aqueous-phase applications. The present works reviews and
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evaluate literature dedicated to both preparation of AC from palm shell, which
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includes the modification technique and its application in various waste water
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treatments such as in removal of heavy metals, dyes and other pollutants.
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ACTIVATED CARBON PREPARED FROM PALM SHELL
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The main technique in the application of AC is adsorption. Adsorption occurs only at
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the surface of the AC and to recover the material adsorbed, desorption can take place.
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The mechanism of adsorption is reported by Bhatnagar & Sillanpaa (2010) as below:
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1. External mass transfer from bulk solution to adsorbent surface across the
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boundary layer, surrounding the adsorbent particle. The transfer usually
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determined by hydrodynamic conditions; increase in mixing speed of batch
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adsorption creates more turbulence and decrease of boundary layer thickness
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around particles.
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2. Intraparticle diffusion within the internal structure of the particle. Internal
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diffusion is diffusion of molecules inside the pores and surface diffusion is
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diffusion of molecules on the surface phase. It controls the transfer of
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adsorbate from the exterior of the porous adsorbent to the internal surface site.
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3. Adsorption at an interior site. This is the step where the particle is attached to
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the surface of the adsorbent. Adsorption at an interior site is usually
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considered to be very rapid and is neglected (Choong et al., 2006).
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The adsorption occurs in the porous surface of AC. High surface area result in
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higher adsorption capacity of pollutants. Apart from that, high dosage of adsorbent
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will offer great availability of exchangeable sites for metal ions (Onundi et al., 2010).
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There are many researchers’ studies on increasing the pore development of palm shell
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AC (Gua & Luo, 2003; Yin et al., 2007; Owlad et al., 2010). The pore development
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on AC can be increased by undergoing physical and chemical treatment.
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Characteristics of Palm Shell
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The characteristics of raw palm shell are described on Table 1. Palm shell is
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suitable for adsorption due to its ability to be modified, thus becoming high porosity
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carbon. From the elemental analysis, weight percentage of the carbon is the highest.
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Other element can be removed in high temperature, due to the gases composition,
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therefore increase the carbon content. Apart from that, high lignin content and low
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cellulose content that makes activation on palm shell on short time due to less fibrous
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structure (Daud and Ali, 2004). However, upon carbonization, palm shell undergoes
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high weight loss of approximately 75%.
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The ash content of a carbon is the residue remains when the carbonaceous
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materials are burned off. As activated carbon contain inorganic constituents derived
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from the source materials and from activating agents added during manufacture, the
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total amount of inorganic constituents will vary from one grade of carbon to another.
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The inorganic constituents in a carbon are usually reported as being in the form in
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which they appear when the carbon is ashed. Ash content can lead to increase
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hydrophilicity and can have catalytic effects, causing restructuring process during
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regeneration of used activated carbon. The inorganic material contained in activated
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carbon is measured as ash content. The degree of burn off (θ) is as equation below,
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where w0 is initial mass of sample (g) and wf is mass of sample after physical
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activation.

w0 w f
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w0
 100
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Modification Surface of Palm Shell
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Typically, the larger surface area of the adsorbent, the higher the adsorption
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capacity will be (Tan et al., 2008). It is important for activated carbon to have high
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surface area. Commercial activated carbons have specific area between 600 and 1200
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m2/g. From previous studies, Jumasiah et al. (2005) produced surface area of 1088
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m2/g from palm kernel shell activated carbon, Adinata et al. in 2007 produced 1170
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m2/g surface area by chemical activation with K2CO3 from palm shell and 1141 m2/g
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from empty fruit bunch by Hameed et al. in 2009. Specific surface area (m2/g) of
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porous carbon or activated carbon is usually determined by gas adsorption
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measurement using Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) (Sumathi et al., 2010). Palm shell
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undergoes treatment to perform adsorption process. Physical treatment or thermal
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activation involves carbonization of palm shell at 500 to 600°C in order to discard
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volatile matter. The treatment followed by partial gasification using mild oxidizing
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gas such as carbon dioxide (CO2), steam or fuel gas at 800 to 1000°C to develop
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porosity and high surface area (Mohan & Pittman, 2006). From Table 2, it is obvious
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that the studies on palm shell to produce AC is not much, thus can be develop more.
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Other type of treatment is by chemical treatment or activation. It involves the
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incorporation of inorganic additives or metallic chloride into the precursor before the
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carbonization (Mohan & Pittman, 2006). Among dehydrating chemicals used for
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chemical activation are H3PO4, ZnCl2, K2CO3, NaOH and KOH. From table 3, there
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are only few researchers studied on chemical agent in treating waste water. Lim et al.
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(2010) reported that chemical activation offers many advantages including single step
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activation, low activation temperatures, low activation time, higher yields and better
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porous structure. The morphological view of the porous can be viewed by scanning
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electron microscope (SEM), while the surface are be identified by BET surface
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analyzer. However, chemical activation requires important washing step in order to
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remove chemicals from the AC, which is time consuming.
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Palm shell that activated by HCl produced more acidic group such as
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carboxylic and ether, which probably causing the adsorption of methylene blue from
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243.9 to 303.3 mg/g. Apart from that, the adsorption increase due to the negatively
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charged surface of AC; through the chemical activation by HCl, negative ions (Cl-) is
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adsorbed from HCl on the positive site on the carbon surface. Therefore, the
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negatively charged surface facilitates adsorption of the positive charged molecules of
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methylene blue (Tan et al., 2008). 4-chloroguaiacol is highly removed by palm shell
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AC treated with NaOH, due to the occurrence of several functional groups;
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carboxylic, oxygen and alkyl groups, as well as quinone structure (Hamad et al.,
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2010). Throughout the mixing of palm shell AC with H3PO4, the acid restricts the
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formation of tar as well as other liquids such as acetic acid and methanol by the
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development of cross-links. Apart from that, H3PO4 limit the shrinkage of the palm
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shell particle by occupying certain significant volumes (Lim et al., 2010). Throughout
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the reviews, the studies focus on various operating condition such as activation
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temperature, impregnation ratio, flow rate, and wastewater of pH.
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Activation temperature effects the characteristics of activated carbon
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produced. From previous studies, activating temperature usually conducted at
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temperature above 800°C. There are several effect of increasing activation
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temperature, which is it will involve enlargement of pores, that will enhanced the
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adsorption of solvent (Hameed, 2008). Adinata et al. (2007) reported in their study
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where various activation temperatures are used to produce AC from 600 to 1000°C.
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BET surface increase from 600 to 800°C but drastically decrease with temperature
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more than 800°C. Increasing the temperature will reduce the yield of activated carbon
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due to fast burn-off and leads to more consume of precursors.
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Besides activation temperature, the activation time also affects the
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carbonization process and properties of activated carbon. From previous study, the
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activation times normally used were from 1 hour to 8 hour for palm shell activated
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carbon (Arami-Niya et al., 2011). As the time increased, homogeneous pore
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distribution is created and the BET surface area also increased. This result is possibly
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due to the volatilization of organic materials from raw material, which results in
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formation of activated carbon.
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Effect of impregnation ratio is significant with chemical activation. Previous
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study by Adinata et al. (2007), they used K2CO3 solvent due to non- hazardous
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property of chemical and also not deleterious compared to KOH and NaOH. The
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impregnation ratio of 1.0 obtained the maximum specific surface area, which is 1170
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m2/g with the duration of 2 h. Different chemicals act differently. At same
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temperature, 30% impregnation by H2SO4 increased the BET surface area
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progressively, compared to 10% impregnation. However, it decreases when
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increasing to 40% impregnation (Guo et al., 2005). Other study by Guo and Lua
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(2003), palm shell is activated by two chemicals which are KOH and H3PO4. BET
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surface reduce with increasing percentage impregnation with KOH from 10% to 40%,
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however, increased when activated by H3PO4.
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CHARACTERIZATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
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The adsorptivity of AC can be justified by its characteristics. There are
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methods to characterize AC in terms of proximate and elemental analysis, pore size
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and its distribution, morphological view and AC components. Among the method
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used by many researchers are as listed in table 4:
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WASTE WATER TREATMENT
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Heavy Metal Removal
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Palm shell AC has been reported to remove heavy metals such as lead,
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chromium and copper ions in wastewater due to presence of some functional groups
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that have chemical attraction towards metal ions, such as hydroxyl, lactone and
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carboxylic (Sulaiman et al. 2011). Lead is often found in wastewater from printed
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circuit board factories, electronics assembly plants, battery recycling plants and
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landfill leachate. If exposed to human body, they can cause central nervous system
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damage. Apart from that, lead can also damage the kidney, liver and reproductive
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system, basic cellular processes and brain functions. The toxic symptoms of lead are
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anemia, insomnia, headache, dizziness, and irritability, weakness of muscles,
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hallucination and renal damages. Other than lead, copper is also widely used in
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electronics industry. The copper in animal body is essential in their metabolism.
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However, excessive ingestion of copper brings about serious toxicological concerns,
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such as vomiting, cramps, convulsions, or even death (Fu & Wang, 2011). There are
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not many research of heavy metal removal from waste water by palm shell activated
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carbon as shown in Table 5.
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Dyes Removal
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Textile industry is famous in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, or known
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locally as Batik Industries. It is popular locally and internationally due to the high
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demand. However, the industry generates high water pollution due to utilization of
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many chemicals. Ahmad (2002) states that this textile industry contains grease, wax,
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heavy metal, surfactant, suspended solid, and dyes. Traditionally, dyes are extracted
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from minerals, plants, and animals which are not hazardous to environment. However
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nowadays, they are substituted by chemicals. Among the chemicals used are dioxin,
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heavy metals and formaldehyde, which are carcinogenic chemicals, thus hazardous to
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the worker of the industries, environment, as well as the user. The study on palm shell
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AC has been proven to remove dyes from textiles industry. Among the dyes are basic
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blue 9 and methylene blue. The removal efficiency is summarized in Table 6.
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On removal of Basic Blue 9, Jumasiah et al. (2005) remove dyes with various
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initial concentrations in batch mode adsorption. The adsorption fitted Redlich-
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Peterson isotherm; correspond to non-linearity of dye adsorption to time. Choong et
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al. (2006) designed models that represent the adsorption of methylene blue onto palm
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kernel shell and proved that the result can be used as replacement of experimental
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data for various initial concentrations.
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Other Removal in Wastewater
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Other than heavy metals and dyes removal, palm shell AC also capable to
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remove pollutants from phenol group, as well as iodine. Phenol and its substituted
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can contaminate wastewater from industries such as petrochemicals, coal gasification
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and pesticide manufacture because it is suspected carcinogenic, extremely toxic to
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aquatic life and adding strong taste and bad odor to water. The reported literatures of
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the removal are summarized in Table 7.
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Conclusions
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In this review, attempts has been made to focus on recent development related to the
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wastewater treatment by palm shell AC. Large adsorption capacities reported in the
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paper provides some idea of palm shell’s effectiveness for different types of
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pollutants which depending on the experimental conditions. The palm shell AC can
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be modified by physical or chemical treatment or both. The treatment might increase
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the pore development and surface area for adsorption surface, therefore increasing the
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adsorption capacities. Use of palm shell is as low-cost adsorbents for removing
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various pollutants from wastewater contribute to reduction of operating cost, and
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waste disposal cost, therefore contributing to environmental protection. However,
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many researches have to be making to utilize the abilities of palm shell for other
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pollutants.
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Tan, I.A.W., Ahmad, A.I. & Hameed, B.H. 2008. Enhancement of basic dye
381
adsorption uptake from aqueous solutions using chemically modified oil palm
382
shell activated carbon. Colloids and Surfaces A: physiochem. Eng. Aspects.
383
318, 88-96.
384
Tan, I.A.W., Ahmad, A.L., and Hameed, B.H., 2009. Fixed-bed adsorption
385
performance of oil palm shell-based activated carbon for removal of 2,4,6-
386
trichlorophenol. Bioresource Technology,100,1494-1496.
387
388
389
390
Viraraghavan, T. & Maria-alfaro, F.D. 1998. Adsorption of phenol from wastewater
by peat, fly ash and bentonite. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 57, 59-70
World Bank Group, 1998. Pollution prevention and abatement handbook. Project
Guidelines: Industry Sector Guidelines. pp 298-301
391
Yin, C.Y., Aroua, M.K., and Daud, W.M.A.W. 2007. Impregnation of palm shell
392
activated carbon with polyethyleneimine and its effects on Cd2+ adsorption.
393
Colloids and Surfaces A, 307,128-136.
394
395
19
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396
Table 1. textural characteristic, proximate and ultimate analyses of palm shell
Properties
Value
Solid density ( g / cm-3)
1.53
Apparent density ( g / cm-3)
1.47
Porosity (%)
3.9
BET surface area (m2/g)
1.6
Micropore
surface
area
References
Guo and Lua (2002)
0.2
(m2/g)
Proximate analysis (wt %)
Carbon
18.7
Moisture
7.96
Ash
1.1
Volatile
0.1
Elemental Analysis (wt %)
Carbon
50.01
Hydrogen
6.85
Nitrogen
1.9
Sulphur
-
Oxygen
41.15
Cellulose (%)
29.7
Halocellulose (%)
47.7
Lignin (%)
53.4
397
398
20
Daud and Ali (2004)
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399
Table 2. Reported physical temperature in preparation of AC palm shell
Physical activation temperature (°C)
500
Researchers
Guo & Lua (2002)
Guo et al. (2005)
600
Guo & Lua (2002)
Guo & Lua (2003)
Guo et al. (2005)
Adinata et al. (2007)
700
Guo & Lua (2002)
Guo et al. (2005)
Adinata et al. (2007)
Tan et al. (2009)
800
Guo & Lua (2002)
Daud & Ali (2004)
Adinata et al. (2007)
Hamad et al. (2010)
900
Guo & Lua (2002)
Guo et al. (2007)
Arami-Niya
et
(2011)
Pyrolysis
Lua et al. (2006)
400
401
21
al.
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402
Table 3. Reported chemical treatment by AC from palm shell
Chemical agent
BET surface Pore volume Average pore References
area (m2/g)
(cm3/g)
diameter
(nm)
KOH and H3PO4 1366
N/A
N/A
Guo
and
Lua
(2003)
H2SO4
1014
N/A
N/A
Guo et al. (2005)
HCl
N/A
N/A
N/A
Tan et al. (2008)
Tan et al. (2009)
NaOH
2247
N/A
2.68
Hamad
et
al.
(2010)
H3PO4
403
1109
0.903
3.2
*N/A – not covered in their studies
404
405
22
Lim et al. (2010)
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406
Table 4. Characterization method for AC
Characterization
Equipment / method
Identification
Thermogravimetric
Volatile matter, Guo
analyzer
(TGA-50, fixed
Shimadzu)
Proximate analysis
References
and
Lua
carbon, (2002)
and ash contents
Guo et al. (2005)
Guo et al. (2007)
Mettler
Toledo
Yin et al. (2007)
TGA/SDTA851
Thermogravimetric
analyzer
CHNO/S
Analyzer Identify carbon, Daud
2400, Perkin Elmer
and
Ali
et
al.
hydrogen, sulfur, (2004)
oxygen
and Adinata
nitrogen content
(2007)
Sumathi et al.
(2009)
Elemental analysis
Elemental
analyzer,
Guo et al. (2005)
(CHN-932, Leco)
Flash
EA
Guo et al. (2007)
1112
Yin et al. (2007)
ThermoFinnigan
elemental analyzer
Ultra-pycnometer
Densities of AC
(UPY-1000,
Solid and apparent
densities
Guo
and
Lua
(2002)
Quantachrome)
Ultrapycnometer
(AccuPyc
Solid density of Adinata
1330 AC
et
al.
(2007)
pycnometer)
Mercury
intrusion Porosity of AC
23
Guo
and
Lua
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porosimeter
(2002)
(PoreSizer-9320,
Micromeritics)
Mercury
porosimeter Pore
size Daud
(Micromeritics,
distribution
Autopore III)
pores
and
Ali
for (2004)
greater
than
4nm
diameter
Barret-Joyner-Halenda
Pore
(BJH) model
distribution
size Lua et al. (2006)
Horvath-Kawazoe
Yin et al. (2007)
(HK) method
Adinata
et
al.
and
Ali
et
al.
(2007)
Lignocellulosic
content
Technical Association Identify
Daud
of
(2004)
Pulp
and
Paper cellulose,
industry (TAPPI), by halocellulose
using methods T-13wd- and
Adinata
lignin (2007)
74, T-17wd-70 and T- content
9m-54.
BET
equation
and Identify
Guo
and
Lua
Dubinin-Radushkevich
micropore
equation
surface area and Guo et al. (2005)
volume
BET surface
(2002)
Lua et al. (2006)
Guo et al. (2007)
Adinata
et
al.
et
al.
(2007)
Hamad
(2010)
24
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ThermoFinnigan
BET surface area Yin et al. (2007)
Sorptomatic
1990 and
Series analyzer
Scanning
distribution
the Guo
(S360, presence
porosities
instruments)
microporosities
and Hamad
Lua
Guo
microscope
(2002)
transform Functional
et
al.
(2010)
Transmission electron
infrared
and
of (2002)
Cambridge
Fourier
Guo
and
Lua
and
Lua
spectroscope groups exist at (2002)
(FTIR-2000,
Functional groups
size
electron Observe
microscope
Microphoto
pore
Perkin the
Elmer
surface
AC
of Guo et al. (2005)
Guo et al. (2007)
Sumathi et al.
(2010)
Perkin Elmer Spectrum
Yin et al. (2007)
RX FTIR
N2
Textural
adsorption
by Identify
the Guo
and
Lua
accelerated surface area textural
(2002)
and
Guo et al. (2005)
porosimeter characteristics
(ASAP-2000,
Guo et al. (2007)
Micromeritics)
Sumathi et al.
(2009)
characteristics
Sumathi et al.
(2010)
Hamad
et
al.
and
Ali
(2010)
(ASAP-2010,
Daud
25
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Micromeritics)
(2004)
Lua et al. (2006)
Adinata
et
al.
(2007)
X-Ray
photoelectron Change
spectroscopy
Surface chemistry
of Guo et al. (2007)
(MK-II, surface
Vacuum Generator)
chemistry before
and
after
adsorption
Composition of AC
Rigaku RIX 3000 X- Analyze
Sumathi et al.
Ray
(2010)
fluorescence chemical
(XRF) spectrometer
composition and
metal loaded in
AC
407
408
26
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409
Table 5. Reported heavy metal removal from waste water by palm shell
410
activated carbon.
Heavy metal
Uptake
Uptake
removal
(mg/g)
(mmol/g)
References
Relevant issues
Adsorption at pH 5 is
greater than at pH 3.
Additions of
95.2
Issabayeva et al.
0.46
(2006)
complexing agent,
boric acid increase the
uptake, while malonic
acid reduces the
uptake.
Lead ions
Unpretreated palm
92.6
Issabayeva et al.
0.44
(2008)
shell activated carbon
can remove heavy
metal ions
The removal of lead
1.337
Onundi et al.
-
(2010)
ion is 100% probably
due to the sulphate
group on the
adsorbent.
Copper ions
30.5
0.48
59.502
0.94
Issabayeva et al.
N/A
(2010)
Hossain et al.
N/A
(2011)
Onundi et al.
1.581
(2010)
27
The removal of
copper is 75% due to
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the high initial
concentration.
Hexavalent
Chromium
228.2
Owlad et al.
0.68
N/A
(2010)
The removal of nickel
is 55% - the lowest
between nickel, lead
and iron. This is
Nickel
Onundi et al.
0.13
(2010)
probably low
concentration of
nickel did not favor
nickel competition for
the same available
adsorption site on
adsorbent.
411
*N/A – not covered in their studies
412
413
28
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414
Table 6. Reported dyes removal by palm shell AC
Type of dyes
Capacities (mg/g)
Researchers
Basic Blue 9
311.72
Jumasiah et al. (2005)
Methylene Blue
303.03
Choong et al. (2006)
415
416
29
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417
Table 7. Reported other pollutants removed by palm shell AC
Types of pollutants
Capacities (mg/g)
Researchers
Phenol
166
Jia & Lua (2008)
2,4,6-trichlorophenol
9.04
Tan et al. (2009)
454.4
Hamad et al. (2010)
1210
Lim et al. (2010)
(TCP)
4-chloroguaiacol removal
(4CG)
Iodine
418
419
30