Performance of Prosopis africana peel powder (PAPP) as a novel sorbent for remediating malachite green contaminated aqua system

摘要

This study was designed to investigateProsopis africanapeel powder (PAPP)as a potential, local, cost-effective, readily-available coagulant for remediating dye-contaminated water and compare it with activated charcoal (astandard coagulant).PAPPwas prepared and characterized using standard procedures. Preliminary characterization of the malachite green (MG) contaminated water was carried out before andpost-treatment withPAPPand activated charcoal, respectively, in terms of turbidity, pH, salinity, temperature, electrical conductivity, total solid (TS), total suspended solid (TSS) and total dissolved solid (TDS). The concentration of the MG adsorbed by bothcoagulantswere determined and compared. Results showedthat the percentage of MG removed increased proportionally with theconcentrationof the coagulants. With PAPP, the pH of the solution was 4.67, the salinityandTSS werezerowhileTS and turbidity were only pronounced at higher concentrations; whereas with activated charcoal, the pH was 6.37, the turbidity, TSS, TS and salinity were zero but TDS and conductivity were concentration dependent. This study has shown thatPAPPcould be employed as a potential adsorbent in the treatment of MG contaminated water.A study iscurrently in progressto activate PAPP and compare its dye removal efficiency with activated charcoal.