Siti Salamah , Totok Eka Suharto , Ilham Mufandi , Zian Prizki Utama , Muhammad Hikmal Firdausya
{"title":"Valorization of oil palm fiber waste into mesoporous silica for selective removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater","authors":"Siti Salamah , Totok Eka Suharto , Ilham Mufandi , Zian Prizki Utama , Muhammad Hikmal Firdausya","doi":"10.1016/j.clwas.2025.100401","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The increasing need for sustainable waste management and circular material use has encouraged research into converting agricultural residues into high-value functional materials. This study explores the valorization of oil palm fiber (OPF) waste for the production of mesoporous silica through sequential acid-alkali treatment and thermal calcination at 500 °C and 600 °C. The optimized silica synthesized at 600 °C exhibited a surface area of 138.3 m²/g and a pore diameter of 16.4 nm, indicating a mesoporous structure favorable for adsorption. Characterization using FTIR and XRF confirmed the presence of silanol and siloxane groups with low impurity levels. Adsorption performance was evaluated using industrial wastewater from silver processing, targeting copper (Cu²⁺) and silver (Ag⁺) removal. Results demonstrated high selectivity for Ag⁺, achieving 99.8 % removal, while Cu²⁺ showed limited uptake. SEM–EDX mapping confirmed the presence and distribution of metal ions on the silica surface. This study highlights the potential of OPF-derived silica as a low-cost, eco-friendly adsorbent, contributing to both waste valorization and heavy metal remediation within a cleaner production framework.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100256,"journal":{"name":"Cleaner Waste Systems","volume":"12 ","pages":"Article 100401"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cleaner Waste Systems","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277291252500199X","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The increasing need for sustainable waste management and circular material use has encouraged research into converting agricultural residues into high-value functional materials. This study explores the valorization of oil palm fiber (OPF) waste for the production of mesoporous silica through sequential acid-alkali treatment and thermal calcination at 500 °C and 600 °C. The optimized silica synthesized at 600 °C exhibited a surface area of 138.3 m²/g and a pore diameter of 16.4 nm, indicating a mesoporous structure favorable for adsorption. Characterization using FTIR and XRF confirmed the presence of silanol and siloxane groups with low impurity levels. Adsorption performance was evaluated using industrial wastewater from silver processing, targeting copper (Cu²⁺) and silver (Ag⁺) removal. Results demonstrated high selectivity for Ag⁺, achieving 99.8 % removal, while Cu²⁺ showed limited uptake. SEM–EDX mapping confirmed the presence and distribution of metal ions on the silica surface. This study highlights the potential of OPF-derived silica as a low-cost, eco-friendly adsorbent, contributing to both waste valorization and heavy metal remediation within a cleaner production framework.