Title : Low-cost agricultural waste-based adsorbent for wastewater treatment virtual
Abstract:
The discharge of dye-contaminated wastewater from textile, food-processing, printing, and other industrial activities represents a significant environmental challenge due to the persistence and ecological impacts of synthetic dyes. While established treatment techniques such as chemical precipitation, coagulation, and membrane filtration are effective, their high operational cost and technical complexity limit adoption in resource-constrained settings, creating a need for economical and sustainable alternatives. Agricultural residues such as banana peel, generated abundantly as kitchen and food-processing waste, remain largely underutilized despite possessing favourable physicochemical characteristics, including inherent porosity and surface functional groups such as hydroxyl and carboxyl moieties, that make them promising precursors for adsorbent development.
This study proposes to investigate the valorization of banana peel waste into a low-cost adsorbent for the removal of Methylene Blue dye from laboratory-prepared wastewater. The methodology will involve collection, pre-treatment (washing, drying, size reduction), and characterization of the banana peel, followed by batch adsorption studies to evaluate the influence of contact time, adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration, and solution pH on adsorption performance. The governing Chemical Engineering principle involves interphase mass transfer, wherein dye molecules migrate from the liquid phase and are retained at active sites on the adsorbent surface, governed by adsorption equilibrium and kinetics.
After analyzing various research papers, I conclude that the technical feasibility of banana peel-derived adsorbent for dye removal is established, contributing to the "Waste to Wealth" paradigm through valorization of agricultural residue and reinforcing sustainable, low-cost strategies for wastewater remediation.
Keywords: Banana peel; Low-cost adsorbent; Adsorption; Methylene Blue; Wastewater treatment
