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Upcycling musambi peel into activated biochar for microplastics eradication: Thermo-kinetics and process optimisation
Summary
Scientists turned sweet lime (musambi) peel—normally food waste—into a charcoal-like material that can soak up 94% of microplastics from water, tiny plastic particles increasingly found in our drinking water and food that scientists are still studying for health effects. This low-cost, reusable filter material could offer an affordable, eco-friendly way to clean up water supplies and reduce our exposure to microplastics, though more testing is needed before it's used at scale.
The present study highlighted the use of the biochar that was prepared using Musambi (sweet lime) peel and subsequently activated with phosphoric acid (MPB@H 3 PO 4 ) as an eco-friendly and effective adsorbent to eliminate microplastics (MPs) in wastewater. The adsorbent was thoroughly characterized by the TGA, XRD, BET, FT-IR, and SEM analysis, to know the surface characteristics and adsorption capacity. The experimental data was supported by process optimization and validation with the help of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Response Surface Methodology-Central Composite Design (RSM-CCD) models. Optimal conditions were found to be; pH 5, 60 min contact time, 25 0 C temperature, 0.3 g/L dose of adsorbent and 250 ppm of MPs concentration as demonstrated by the experiment with a maximum removal efficiency of 94.04%. The hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and electron interactions both between the adsorbent and the MPs affected the adsorption process. Kinetic and isotherm analyses showed that adsorption followed pseudo-second-order (R 2 = 0.99838) kinetic model and Freundlich isotherm, which is indicative of a multilayer physisorption. Thermodynamic studies confirmed the viability and spontaneity of this process. Moreover, MPB@H 3 PO 4 can be successfully recycled to a number of four consecutive adsorption-desorption operations. Hereafter, MPB@H 3 PO 4 ascertained itself as one of the promising, reusable and ecologically sustainable adsorbents in the mitigation of MPs contamination in the water body.