Abstract
Today’s environmental issues related to wastewater are being tackled by growing public concern and tighter international regulation. Pollutant removal from wastewater is still a very challenging task. The removal of heavy metals from industrial and agricultural wastewater is a complex environmental issue due to its potential health hazards. There are different methods used for wastewater treatment. However, these technologies are either frequently ineffective or generate secondary metabolites. Adsorption, a physicochemical method, has proven effective in eliminating low-concentration inorganic pollutants. Powdered activated carbon and natural powders have emerged as potential solutions in urban wastewater treatment. This study provides an overview of their applications and effectiveness in removing contaminants from wastewater, thereby improving the overall treatment efficiency and water quality. For this purpose, experiments have been performed using three types of powders: Saccharum officinarum powder and its powdered activated carbon as an adsorbent, and Luffa aegyptiaca Luffa aegyptiaca powder. This study focused on the adsorption treatment of natural powders influenced by different parameters (pH, infrared spectroscopy, contact time, concentration, mass and particle size) during laboratory experiments. By maintaining a few parameters and using natural powders without carbonization or prior activation, this study demonstrated that powdered activated carbon remains more effective and shows better results than natural powders.
Author Contributions
J.R., S.M. and A.H. conceived and designed the experiments; M.A.A., S.M. and J.R. performed the experiments; J.R., M.A.A., Z.A.B., A.N. and A.H. analyzed the data; A.N., M.A.A., A.H. and J.R. contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools; M.A.A. and J.R. wrote and correct the paper. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all volunteers involved in the sensory study.
Data Availability Statement
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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