Removal of Dyes Using Activated Carbon Derived from Palm Tree Empty Fruit Bunch

The ability of activated carbon prepared from palm oil empty fruit bunches (EFB) to remove malachite green dye from aqueous solutions was investigated. The EFB activated carbon was produced using chemical activation processes. A response surface methodology (RSM) was used in this study to optimize the factor influenced the dye removal such as dye concentration, absorbent dosage and time. The EFB activated carbon showed excellent efficiency in removing malachite green dye with percentage of removal up to 99 % even at 0.77g adsorbent dosage, 407.15 ppm concentration of dye and 6 hours of contact time. The study also showed that the adsorption of malachite green dye by EFB activated carbon is influenced by every parameter. The use of EFB as activated carbon is proven which effective in removal of malachite green dye from aqueous solution even helps in solving the problem of over-abundance of EFB as agricultural waste product.