Comparison of hydrogel- and xerogel-based sorbent from Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB)

Purpose: This paper focuses on the synthesis and comparison of hydrogel- and xerogel-based sorbents from EFB. Design/methodology/approach: Hydrogels were synthesised by polymerisation of EFB biochar with acrylamide (AAm) as a monomer, N, N'-Methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as cross-linker and ammonium persulfate (APS) as initiator, as well as by internal gelation method of sodium alginate, empty fruit bunch (EFB), calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and glucono delta-lactone (GDL). From the alginate hydrogels obtained, xerogels were synthesised via the oven-drying method. Then, EFB-based hydrogel and xerogel sorbents were analysed and compared based on characterisation analysis by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer− Emmett−Teller (BET), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Findings: The xerogel-based EFB is a better adsorbent than the hydrogel-based EFB because it has a larger pore volume (0.001449 cm3/g), larger pore size (63.7987 nm), higher moisture content (7.97%), lower ash content (12.55%), and is more thermally stable. Research limitations/implications: The research is to compare two new adsorbents, namely Hydrogel and Xerogel, from EFB in terms of their characteristics. Practical implications: Both adsorbents show a highly toxic material uptake, especially EFB xerogel. This adsorbent is comparable with the other commercialised adsorbent. Thus, this product can be a highly potential adsorbent for gas and wastewater adsorption. Originality/value: The authenticity results of this article were found to be 15% similar. The novelty of this paper is to compare the two adsorbents, namely hydrogel and xerogel, that originated from EFB.