Penyelidikan ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui potensi serat tandan buah kelapa sawit kosong (OPEFB) sebagai bahan bio-jerap untuk penyingkiran ion plumbum (II) dan nikel (II) daripada larutan akueos. Eksperimen penjerapan dijalankan dalam sistem kelompok dan kesan pH, dos bahan jerap, kepekatan awal ion logam dan masa sentuhan terhadap prosess bio-jerapan dikaji. Proses bio-jerapan didapati amat bergantung terhadap pH. pH optima untuk bio-jerapan terhadap ion plumbum (II) dan nikel (II) didapati pada pH 6, dengan kecekapan penyingkiran kira-kira 74% dan 29% masingmasing. Peningkatan dos bahan jerap menyebabkan peningkatan kecekapan dalam penyingkiran, namun kapasiti jerapan menurun. Kepekatan awal ion jerapan yang tinggi juga menyebabkan kapasiti jerapan yang tinggi tetapi kecekapan penyingkiran yang rendah. Penyingkiran ion logam berat didapati meningkat dengan cepat pada permulaan eksperimen, dan seterusnya meningkat perlahan sehingga prosess bio-jerapan mencapai keseimbangan. Penjerapan garis sesuhu Langmuir dan Freundlich digunakan untuk proses bio-jerapan dan pemalar garis sesuhu tersebut dinilai. Data eksperimen menunjukkan bahawa bio-jerapan terhadap ion plumbum (II) lebih cenderung kepada garis sesuhu Langmuir manakala ion nikel (II) didapati lebih sesuai dengan garis sesuhu Freundlich. Selanjutnya, serat OPEFB dicirikan dengan menggunakan Spektometer Transformasi Infra Merah Fourier (FTIR), dan keputusannya mencadangkan bahawa kumpulan-kumpulan berfungsi yang terdapat dalam bahan bio-jerap ini berkebolehan untuk menjerap ion logam berat.
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The present study was to investigate the potential of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) fibre as the biosorbent for lead (II) and nickel (II) ions removal from aqueous solution. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted and the effects of pH, adsorbent dosage, initial metal concentration and contact time on the biosorption process were also investigated. Biosorption process was found to be highly pH dependent. The optimum pH for biosorption of lead (II) and nickel (II) ions was found at pH 6, where removal efficiencies are about 74% and 29% respectively. Increasing of adsorbent dosage lead to increase in removal efficiency but decrease in adsorption capacity. Contradictory, higher initial metal concentrations also lead to higher adsorption capacity but lower removal efficiency. The removal of heavy metal ions was found to increase rapidly at the initial of the experiment, and then increased slowly until the bisorption process reached equilibrium. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were applicable to the biosorption process and their constants were evaluated. The experimental data showed that biosorption of lead (II) ions was fitted well in Langmuir isotherm while nickel (II) ions was found suitable for Freundlich isotherm. Furthermore, OPEFB fibre was characterized by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectometer (FTIR), and the results proved that the functional groups present in the biosorbent were capable of adsorbing the heavy metal ions.
Removal of lead (ii) and nickel (ii) ions using oil palm empty fruit bunch fibre as biosorbent_Liew Chai Chien_K4_2011_NI