Ultrasonic Synthesis of Nanochitosan and Its Size Effects on Turbidity Removal and Dealkalization in Wastewater Treatment
Fitri Khoerunnisa,
Yustika Desti Yolanda,
Mita Nurhayati,
Firdha Zahra,
Muhamad Nasir,
Pakorn Opaprakasit,
Min-Yee Choo,
Eng-Poh Ng
Affiliations
Fitri Khoerunnisa
Department of Chemistry, Indonesia University of Education, Setiabudi 229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia
Yustika Desti Yolanda
Department of Chemistry, Indonesia University of Education, Setiabudi 229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia
Mita Nurhayati
Department of Chemistry, Indonesia University of Education, Setiabudi 229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia
Firdha Zahra
Department of Chemistry, Indonesia University of Education, Setiabudi 229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia
Muhamad Nasir
Research Unit for Clean Technology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Bandung 40135, Indonesia
Pakorn Opaprakasit
School of Bio-Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thammasat University, Khlong Luang 12121, Pathum Thani, Thailand
Min-Yee Choo
School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Minden 11800, Penang, Malaysia
Eng-Poh Ng
School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Minden 11800, Penang, Malaysia
A detailed study on the synthesis of chitosan nanoparticles under ultrasonication is reported in this paper. By using this simple technique, chitosan particles in nanometer range can be easily prepared without using any harmful and expensive chemicals. The results show that increasing the ultrasonic irradiation time and ultrasonic wave amplitude are the key factors for producing discrete chitosan nanoparticles with narrow particle size distribution. The resulting nanoparticles show superior turbidity removal efficiency (75.4%) and dealkalization (58.3%) in wastewater treatment than the bulk chitosan solid (35.4% and 11.1%, respectively), thus offering an eco-friendly and promising approach for treating wastewater via the coagulation/flocculation process.
