Due to their non-toxicity and biodegradability, natural polymeric flocculants have gained popularity in water and wastewater treatment in recent years. Because of its broad availability, renewability, sustainability, and surface modification potential, cellulose, the most common polymer on the planet, is regarded as one of the foundation polymers for flocculant production and modification. The following article consists of a review of the latest developments regarding biopolymers, in particular, cellulose as a natural flocculant. One of the plants that can be developed in Indonesia is Boehmeria nivea, or what is known as Ramie, which contains cellulose that is still not utilized optimally. There is a method of isolation of alpha-cellulose derived from Boehmeria nivea and its application as a flocculant in synthetic wastewater presented in this paper. The alpha-cellulose of Boehmeria nivea was used as a flocculant in jar testing using kaolin suspension (5 g/L). The study shows that adding alpha-cellulose as an aid to PAC slightly increased the turbidity removal efficiency, and further modification of alpha-cellulose by cationic grafts into cationic cellulose is needed.
Natural polymeric flocculants have gained popularity in water and wastewater treatment in recent years due to their non-toxicity and biodegradability. Because of its broad availability, renewability, sustainability, and surface modification potential, cellulose is regarded as one of the foundation polymers for flocculant production and modification. The following literature review includes of an overview of coagulation-flocculation, which is the process mechanism consisting of colloid destabilization for coagulation, followed by bridging, charge neutralization, and electrostatic patch for flocculation; aspects affecting the coagulation-flocculation performance; as well as the types of coagulants and flocculants that are commonly used. Furthermore, we will go over the physical and chemical properties of flocculants, as well as their usage as a coagulant-aid in the flocculation process following coagulation and as a flocculant in direct flocculation. There is also a discussion of the most recent advances in biopolymers, which are natural materials used to alter biopolymers as flocculants such as chitosan, tannins, starch, and cellulose. Whereas there is a review of the cellulose modifications that have been performed in past research to make it a natural flocculant, the use of ramie cellulose as flocculants has never been carried out to be used as a coagulant-aid and/or flocculant in drinking water and wastewater treatment. Ramie cellulose as backbone of biomaterial composites are expected to be applied as flocculants, have good flocculation performance, and can facilitate sludge handling in water treatment plants and/or wastewater treatment plants.
The use of cellulose which is a natural polymer as a flocculant has been widely used, however, the extraction of cellulose from plants has not been widely studied, particularly extracted from Boehmeria nivea (ramie). In this research, the stem of ramie came from the waste of textile raw material. The isolation of α-cellulose is done through pre-hydrolysis, delignification, and bleaching processes. In this research, there are 6 types of α-cellulose that are isolated from the stem of ramie, depending on the sodium hydroxide concentration in the delignification process. The isolated α-cellulose is characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and tested its flocculation ability through jar-test apparatus with 5 gr/L kaolin suspension as synthetic water samples and turbidity as the test parameter. The coagulation-flocculation experiments were carried out without the addition of a coagulant, which is called the direct flocculation method. Data analysis was performed by One-Way ANOVA statistical analysis, with Duncan’s multiple range test as the post-hoc analysis. It is concluded that cellulose is a good candidate biomaterial for natural flocculants in removing turbidity and further modification of α-cellulose with cationic grafts will be carried out for the next stage of research.
The synthesis and modification of cellulose from Boehmeria nivea into a cationic bio-based flocculant was performed. In the first stage of research, cellulose was isolated from the bast fiber of Boehmeria nivea. Second, the modification of cellulose into cationic cellulose was carried out by reaction using 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl-trimethylammonium chloride (CHPTAC). Cellulose and cationic cellulose were tested as bio-based flocculants for their flocculation ability with synthetic water samples using 5 g/L of kaolin suspension with turbidity as the test parameter. Data analysis was performed by statistical analysis using one-way ANOVA and Duncan's multiple range test. Studies showed that the use of Cellulose as a bio-based flocculant in the coagulation-flocculation process with polyaluminum chloride (PAC) as a coagulant statistically increased the efficiency of turbidity removal, up to 99.17%, whereas the direct flocculation process, i.e., without the use of coagulant, had a turbidity removal efficiency of 98.91% with 60 minutes of sedimentation time. The use of cationic cellulose showed promising results as a bio-based flocculant in the direct flocculation process compared to PAC, with a shorter sedimentation time.
The synthesis and modification of α-cellulose from Boehmeria nivea into a cationic bioflocculant was performed. In the first stage of research, α-cellulose was isolated from the bast fiber of Boehmeria nivea. Second, the modification of α-cellulose into cationic cellulose was carried out by reaction using 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl-trimethylammonium chloride (CHPTAC). α-cellulose and cationic cellulose were tested as bioflocculants for their flocculation ability with synthetic water samples using 5 g/L of kaolin suspension with turbidity as the test parameter. Data analysis was performed by statistical analysis using one-way ANOVA and Duncan's multiple range test. Studies showed that the use of α-cellulose as a bioflocculant in the coagulation-flocculation process with polyaluminum chloride (PAC) as a coagulant statistically increased the efficiency of turbidity removal, up to 99.17%, whereas the direct flocculation process, i.e., without the use of coagulant, had a turbidity removal efficiency of 98.91% with 60 minutes of sedimentation time. The use of cationic cellulose showed promising results as a bioflocculant in the direct flocculation process compared to PAC, with a shorter sedimentation time.
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