SYNTHESIS OF POROUS GEOPOLYMERS USING BURNOUT MATERIALS FOR THE REMOVAL OF ANIONIC SURFACTANT FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION

The discharge of various pollutants into the world water resources depletes the clean water resources and demands immediate action to develop efficient materials and processes to remove pollutants from wastewater. Surfactant contaminated water is harmful for humans and aquatic bodies. Adsorption is the most suitable and commonly used method to remove surfactants due to its effectiveness, economical, and simple operation. This paper investigates the effect of pore forming agents such as agar, cocopeat (short and long fiber), paraffin wax, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), crude palm oil (CPO), glycerin pitch, fish gelatin, rice flour, and wheat on the formation of porous geopolymer for removing an anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) from aqueous solution. Geopolymer is a mesoporous material and the sample prepared using cocopeat-short fiber achieved the highest surface area of 2.512 m2/g. Geopolymer prepared using agar obtained the maximum adsorption capacity and removal efficiency of 1.52 mg/g and 61 while the geopolymer prepared using cocopeat-short fiber resulted in adsorption capacity and removal efficiency of 1.15 mg/g and 47 after 180 minutes of adsorption at an adsorbent dosage of 1g/L, pH 2 and SDBS initial concentration of 100 mg/L. The results show that the burnout pore forming agents could not increase the surface area of geopolymer. Future research should focus on finding new burnout materials or additives for the preparation of porous geopolymers with high surface area and high adsorption capacities. © School of Engineering, Taylor�s University.