EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL OF AGRICULTURAL WASTE AS NATURAL RESOURCE-BASED ADSORBENTS FOR METHYLENE BLUE REMOVAL
Authors:   Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis Malaysia; Sustainable Environment Research Group (SERG), Centre of Excellence Geopolymer and Green Technologies (CEGeoGTech), Univ, RAHIM Nur Liza , SULAIMAN Muhamad Farid Idham ,   Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis Malaysia, KAMARUDZAMAN Ain Nihla ,   Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis Malaysia, MOHAMAD IBRAHIM Norlia ,   Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis Malaysia; Sustainable Environment Research Group (SERG), Centre of Excellence Geopolymer and Green Technologies (CEGeoGTech), Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kompleks Pengajian Jejawi 2, 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia, CHE AMAT Roshazita ,   Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis Malaysia; Sustainable Environment Research Group (SERG), Centre of Excellence Geopolymer and Green Technologies (CEGeoGTech), Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kompleks Pengajian Jejawi 2, 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia, MOHAMMED Syakirah Afiza ,   Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis Malaysia, MOHAMED NOOR Norazian ,   Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis Malaysia; Sustainable Environment Research Group (SERG), Centre of Excellence Geopolymer and Green Technologies (CEGeoGTech), Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kompleks Pengajian Jejawi 2, 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia, DEÁK György ,   National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection (INCDPM), Bucharest 060031, Romania, AHMAD SOFRI Liyana ,   Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis Malaysia
Published: April 2024

Excessive agricultural waste in the agricultural industry leads to various forms of pollution, including water pollution. To address this issue, there's a growing interest in finding alternative methods. One approach is to utilize agricultural waste as natural resource-based adsorbents to eliminate contaminants, such as the case of methylene blue (MB) in this study. The study specifically focuses on using rice husk (RH) from a local rice mill in Perlis, Malaysia, to absorb methylene blue. The structure of rice husk, characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), reveals a coarser and more compact outer area, contributing to its absorption capacity for methylene blue. The study on rice husk involves three main aspects: contact time, adsorbent dosage, and dye concentration. The removal percentage of MB increased as the three studied adsorption parameters increased. The adsorption data were analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms, with the the Freundlich Isotherms were found to be more suitable based on higher coefficient of correlation (R2) values compared to Langmuir. The pseudo-second-order kinetics model demonstrated a higher R2 value (1.00) compared to the pseudo-first-order model (0.747). The results indicate promising potential for addressing pollution through sustainable means and provide insights into the adsorption process under varying conditions.