A review on adsorption of heavy metals from wood-industrial wastewater by oil palm waste

Abstract

The use of heavy metals in the manufacturing industry over the past few decades has eventually contributed to a rise in the flow of metallic compounds into wastewater and has raised significant ecological and health threats to living things. Adsorption is an excellent way to treat solid waste effluent, offering significant benefits such as affordability, profitability, ease of operation and efficiency. However, the price of commercial adsorbent namely activated carbon has soared due to its high demand. There is also a green improvement in this method by turning the commercial adsorbent into agricultural waste. In Malaysia, the oil palm waste is such suitable material that can be utilized for making activated carbon, since they are ample and easy to find. Additionally, part of them is agricultural waste that cannot be consumed (i.e. leaves and fronds). Hence, this study aimed to analyse the potential of activated carbon from agricultural waste, namely oil palm waste, in reducing the levels of heavy metals in industrial wastewater.