"Production of Activated Carbon Adsorbent from Aloe vera Leaves for Wastewater Treatment"

Abstract

Industrial activities such as textile, mining, pharmaceutical, agricultural chemicals, battery production and electroplating, have severely led to ecological pollution in recent years without much mitigating measures. This study aimed to provide valuable insights into sustainable water treatment by examining the synthesis process, characterizing the resulting activated carbon, and evaluating its adsorption efficiency. The main objective was to produce activated carbon from waste Aloe vera leaves for application as an adsorbent in wastewater treatment. The process involved cleaning, drying, carbonization, and activation of the dried Aloe leaves and the resultant activated carbon characterized and tested for its adsorption capacity using methylene blue dye. Consequently, the adsorption capacity analysis and kinetic study explored the adsorption rate over time. Results from the carbonization and activation process showed that, timing influences material adsorption properties while the conversion efficiency at 19.39% and 39.05% indicates the pyrolysis phase was very effective in the conversion of Aloe vera waste to activated carbon. Additionally, adsorption coefficient at 17.1, 10.2 and 24.9 mg/g is consistent with results of kinetic study that showed complete uptake of methylene blue for duration of 2 hours. Effects of pH to the sorption phase was also done and adsorbent established to be at pH of 11.3. The study showed the potential of activated carbon from Aloe vera leaves and its applicability as an adsorbent in wastewater treatment. It is recommended that future research refine the activation conditions further, investigate diverse biomass precursors, and make a thorough economic assessment for large-scale replication through manufacturing.