Abstract
Ph.D. (Chemistry)
This study presents work on the preparation, characterisation and application of agricultural waste residue, maize tassel in the production of activated carbon (AC) using both physical and chemical methods of activation in their production. The activated carbon produced from maize tassel (MTAC) or steam-produced activated carbon (STAC) were later added as a filler – together with beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD), and raw tassel (RT) – in the production of polyurethane composite adsorbent (PUCAD) material for the removal of selected inorganic (such as Cd2+, Cr3+, Pb2+) and organic pollutants (phenolic compound - bisphenol A (BPA), ortho-nitrophenol (O-NTP), para-chlorophenol (PCP), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), and methylene blue (MB) as adsorbate/analytes from aqueous medium. Both batch and solid-phase extraction adsorption methods (SPE), were used for separation and preconcentration. The investigations included reactivity using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, surface morphology analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal stability using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), heat flow using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and crystallinity using X-ray diffraction (XRD) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX).
The FT-IR analysis revealed that there was interaction between the polymeric material and all the fillers. The hydrogen bonding and N-H group interaction between all the materials and the polyurethane polymer composite (PCAD) showed compatibility between the polymeric materials and the fillers.