Adsorption of Zn<sup>2+</sup> from Synthetic Wastewater Using Dried Watermelon Rind (D-WMR): An Overview of Nonlinear and Linear Regression and Error Analysis
Wahid Ali Hamood Altowayti,
Norzila Othman,
Adel Al-Gheethi,
Nur Hasniza binti Mohd Dzahir,
Syazwani Mohd Asharuddin,
Abdullah Faisal Alshalif,
Ibrahim Mohammed Nasser,
Husnul Azan Tajarudin,
Faris Ali Hamood AL-Towayti
Affiliations
Wahid Ali Hamood Altowayti
Micro-Pollutant Research Centre (MPRC), Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Norzila Othman
Micro-Pollutant Research Centre (MPRC), Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Adel Al-Gheethi
Micro-Pollutant Research Centre (MPRC), Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Nur Hasniza binti Mohd Dzahir
Micro-Pollutant Research Centre (MPRC), Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Syazwani Mohd Asharuddin
Micro-Pollutant Research Centre (MPRC), Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Abdullah Faisal Alshalif
Jamilus Research Centre for Sustainable Construction (JRC-SC), Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Ibrahim Mohammed Nasser
Jamilus Research Centre for Sustainable Construction (JRC-SC), Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Husnul Azan Tajarudin
Division of Bioprocess, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Faris Ali Hamood AL-Towayti
Departement of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak, Malaysia
Sustainable wastewater treatment is one of the biggest issues of the 21st century. Metals such as Zn2+ have been released into the environment due to rapid industrial development. In this study, dried watermelon rind (D-WMR) is used as a low-cost adsorption material to assess natural adsorbents’ ability to remove Zn2+ from synthetic wastewater. D-WMR was characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). According to the results of the analysis, the D-WMR has two colours, white and black, and a significant concentration of mesoporous silica (83.70%). Moreover, after three hours of contact time in a synthetic solution with 400 mg/L Zn2+ concentration at pH 8 and 30 to 40 °C, the highest adsorption capacity of Zn2+ onto 1.5 g D-WMR adsorbent dose with 150 μm particle size was 25 mg/g. The experimental equilibrium data of Zn2+ onto D-WMR was utilized to compare nonlinear and linear isotherm and kinetics models for parameter determination. The best models for fitting equilibrium data were nonlinear Langmuir and pseudo-second models with lower error functions. Consequently, the potential use of D-WMR as a natural adsorbent for Zn2+ removal was highlighted, and error analysis indicated that nonlinear models best explain the adsorption data.
