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Malaysia, as one of the leading palm oil producers in the world faces problems in disposal of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB), which can be converted into various value-added products, including adsorbents. This study investigated the adsorption of phenol from its solution using biochar produced from EFB through carbonization. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with Box-Behnken design was used to investigate the effects of three parameters (temperature, time and heating rate) during carbonization on phenol removal by the biochar produced. This was followed by process optimization based on statistical analysis. The results indicated that the optimized carbonization conditions were; 500 °C for temperature, 10 °C/min of heating rate and 80 min for reaction time, which led to 7.57% of phenol removal. SEM revealed coarse and uneven surface of the biochar surface, with small degree of pore development. Comparison between FTIR spectrum of EFB and biochar revealed the loss of water and hydroxyl compounds from EFB during carbonization. The lack of oxygenated groups (especially carbonyl groups) on the adsorbent surface as well as limited number of pores were the possible reasons leading to low phenol adsorption by biochar, therefore conversion of the biochar to activated carbon was necessary for higher adsorption performance.

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Pineapple is the third most consumed fruit in the world with an annual production of about 25 million tons. Usually, pineapple leaf (PL) becomes the waste after harvesting and most of the PL was burned to eliminate fungi, composted or just piled to rot. The aim of this study is to synthesize PL modified with diethylenetriamine (DETA) that contain amino groups (NH2) which enhance the adsorption capacity via the impregnated method. In order to prove the presence of NH2 groups on the surface of adsorbent after modification, the characterization analysis has been done. After the modification of PL with DETA (DETA-PL), the FTIR analysis shows the 2 peaks that attributed to the amino group. There also increased surface area, pore volume, pore size and the amount of N of DETA-PL as evidence of BET analysis and elemental analysis. The amount of N also increased after modification. The morphology of DETA-PL was smooth and crinkle after modification with DETA. The point of zero charges of DETA-PL was increased after the modification of PL. The finding obtained from all of the characterization analyses showed that there are presences of the amino group on the surface of DETA-PL adsorbent after modification. This suggested that DETA-PL is a promising adsorbent for an adsorption method of wastewater treatment.