Adsorption Characteristics of Bisphenol A onto Low-Cost Modified Phyto-Waste Material in Aqueous Solution

The potential of agricultural waste materials for the removal bisphenol A (BPA) from aqueous solution was investigated. BPA is an endocrine-disrupting compound (EDC) used mainly in the plastic manufacturing industry. It may be hazardous to humans and animals because of its estrogenic activity. Agricultural wastes are sustainable adsorbents because of their low cost and availability. Hence, this study investigated the removal of BPA from water by adsorption onto treated coir pith, coconut shell and durian peel. The adsorption of BPA from water onto adsorbent was evaluated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The effects of morphology, functional groups, and surface area on adsorption before and after pretreatment with sulfuric acid and reaction were investigated, and it was found that the treated adsorbent were able to remove BPA. Carbonyl and hydroxyl groups had appear in large number in FTIR analysis. The present study indicates that coir pith had removed 72 % of BPA with adsorption capacity of 4.308 mg/g for 24 h, followed by durian peel (70 %, 4.178 mg/g) and coconut shell (69 %, 4.159 mg/g). The results proved that these modified phyto-waste were promising materials as alternative adsorbent for the removal of BPA from aqueous solution.