Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

THE CHARACTERIZATION OF POTENTIAL ADSORBENTS MADE OF SOLID TOFU WASTE IMMOBILIZED ON SILICA SURFACE FOR REMOVAL OF HEAVY METAL IONS

Handoko Darmokoesoemo1, Eko Prasetyo Kuncoro, Ganden Supriyanto and Yosephine Sri Wulan Manuhara

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize the potential adsorbents made from solid tofu waste immobilized on silica surface for the removal of heavy metal ions. The composition of the potential adsorbent includes 6 g of solid tofu waste (STW), 50 mL of Na2SiO3 (which contain 25% of SiO2 with a density of 1.35 g/mL), and 3 mL of concentrated HCl. The result of the proximate analysis showed that the nutritional composition of solid tofu waste include crude protein (21.4%), crude fat (7.9%), carbohydrate (16.6%), crude fiber (4.9%), metalCa (0.9%), ash content (1.2%), dry material (47.1%), and moisture content (3.3%). The bacterial population on solid tofu waste and silica-solid tofu waste were 5.7x 105 CFU/g and 4.0 × 103 CFU/g (based on total plate count, CFU= Colony Forming Unit) respectively. The XRD analysis showed that is both solid tofu waste and silica-solid tofu waste had amorphous structure, while the FTIR analysis showed that the interaction between solid tofu waste and silica particles was inter molecular hydrogen bond and dipole induced-dipole interactions. The SEM-EDX analysis revealed the surface topography and elemental content of solid tofu waste immobilized on silica surface adsorbents. The analysis of the particle size showed that the adsorbent has an average micrometer scale size. In addition, the result of the BET-BJH analysis revealed that the total surface area, pore size and pore volume of silica-solid tofu waste adsorbent are 60.2103 m2/g,0.147072 cm3/g, and 5.9724 nm. The adsorbent was classified as mesoporous with a Horvath-Kawazoemicropore size of 0.300 nm.