Microporous activated carbon developed from KOH activated biomass waste: surface mechanistic study of methylene blue dye adsorption

In this work, sugarcane bagasse waste (SBW) was used as a lignocellulosic precursor to develop a high surface area activated carbon (AC) by thermal treatment of the SBW impregnated with KOH. This sugarcane bagasse waste activated carbon (SBWAC) was characterized by means of crystallinity, porosity, surface morphology and functional groups availability. The SBWAC exhibited Type I isotherm which corresponds to microporosity with high specific surface area of 709.3 m2/g and 6.6 nm of mean pore diameter. Further application of SBWAC as an adsorbent for methylene blue (MB) dye removal demonstrated that the adsorption process closely followed the pseudo-second order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models. On the other hand, thermodynamic study revealed the endothermic nature and spontaneity of MB dye adsorption on SBWAC with high acquired adsorption capacity (136.5 mg/g). The MB dye adsorption onto SBWAC possibly involved electrostatic interaction, H-bonding and π-π interaction. This work demonstrates SBW as a potential lignocellulosic precursor to produce high surface area AC that can potentially remove more cationic dyes from the aqueous environment.

Tensile Properties of Bagasse Fiber Composites

Bagasse is a waste generated in abundance from the sugarcane industry. This investigation was planned to convert bagasse waste into a useful composite. For this purpose the bagasse waste was obtained from sugar cane juice producer. In this study, the extraction of bagasse fibers was done manually and they were treated with sodium hydroxide. The treated bagasse fibers had higher tensile properties as compared to untreated ones, so the alkali treated fibers were used as reinforcement for making composites. Hand lay-up technique was used to manufacture bagasse composite samples. The fiber length (1 inch and 2 inch) and fiber weight percentage (10 wt% and 20 wt%) were considered as variables. It was found that better tensile properties were obtained with higher fiber length (2 inch) and weight percentage (20 wt%). Bagasse-cotton fabric composites were also produced using cotton fabric as a base material and the bagasse fibers were sandwiched between a printed and plain cotton fabric. The idea was to consider these composites useful for sun-shades or for decorative purposes. It was also found that bagasse-cotton fabric reinforced composites had higher tensile strength and strain; however the modulus had reduced due to higher elongation of cotton fabrics. With the increase in the weight percentage the tensile properties had reduced this might be because during the composite manufacturing the epoxy resin had to pass through the fabric to wet the bagasse fiber out and they were not wetted out properly. This phenomenon needs further investigation.

Production of Sugar From Sweet Sorghum Stems with Hydrolysis Method Using Trichoderma viride

Sorghum stem bagasse waste is one of the materials with high cellulose content. It can be utilized in glucose production through enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose by Trichoderma viride. This study aims to determine sorghum stem bagasse’s potential in producing glucose, assessing the time and concentration of sorghum stem bagasse in the hydrolysis process to produce glucose optimally and following SNI. Hydrolysis was carried out using a concentration of 5%, 8%, and 11% sorghum stem bagasse for 10, 15, and 20 days. The results showed that sorghum stem bagasse waste could produce glucose with an average glucose yield of 10.09% to 24.40 %. There is a tendency that increasing substrate concentration and hydrolysis time will increase the yield of liquid glucose. The treatment of 5% concentration of sorghum stem bagasse with a long hydrolysis time of 10 days can produce the highest liquid glucose, namely 24.40% with total dissolved solids of 7.40% Brix, the ash content of 0.26%, but 47.54% water content has not met SNI standards.Â