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Effect of Desilication on Indonesian Natural Zeolite for the Enhancement of Ammonium Ion Removal from Aqueous Solutions

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Abstract

The removal of ammonium from wastewater is a crucial process to mitigate the potential environmental issues associated with high nitrogen content in the water bodies. Natural zeolite, particularly clinoptilolite, has shown promise as an adsorbent for this purpose due to its unique surface properties. While zeolite has been studied extensively in this context, the current work represents an exploration of natural zeolite from The Tanggamus District, Indonesia. The study evaluated the impact of the desilication process on the ammonium adsorption capacity of this natural zeolite. The zeolites were characterized using XRD, XRF, and SEM. Batch adsorption studies revealed that the modified zeolite showed promising ammonium adsorption performance up to 35.4 mg/g. The adsorption data fit well with the pseudo-second-order kinetics and Freundlich isotherm model, suggesting chemisorption as the predominant mechanism. The effect of temperature and thermodynamic parameters highlighted the exothermic nature of the adsorption process.

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All materials and data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their deepest gratitude to PT. Paragon Perdana Mining for generously supplying the zeolite samples used in this study. Their support played a crucial role in the successful completion of this research.

Funding

This research has no funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Huwi, Jati Agung, Lampung, 35365, Indonesia

    Tarmizi Taher & Elisabeth Kartini Arum Melati

  2. Center for Green and Sustainable Materials, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Jl. Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung, 35365, Indonesia

    Tarmizi Taher, Melany Febrina, Sena Maulana & Aditya Rianjanu

  3. Department of Physics, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung, 35365, Indonesia

    Melany Febrina

  4. Department of Forestry Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung, 35365, Indonesia

    Sena Maulana

  5. Department of Marine Environmental Science, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung, 35365, Indonesia

    Meezan Ardhanu Asagabaldan

  6. Department of Materials Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Terusan Ryacudu, Way Hui, Jati Agung, Lampung, 35365, Indonesia

    Aditya Rianjanu

  7. Magister Program of Material Sciences, Graduate School of Sriwijaya University, Jl. Padang Selasa No 524 Bukit Besar Ilir Barat I, Palembang, Indonesia

    Aldes Lesbani

  8. Division of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Research Center for Nanoscience and Technology, and Center for Catalysis and Reaction Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha No. 10, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia

    Rino R. Mukti

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  1. Tarmizi Taher
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  2. Elisabeth Kartini Arum Melati
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  6. Aditya Rianjanu
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  7. Aldes Lesbani
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Contributions

Tarmizi Taher: Writing-Original Draft, Writing-Review & Editing, Conceptualization. Elisabeth Kartini Arum Melati: Investigation. Melany Febrina: Funding acquisition. Sena Maulana: Funding acquisition. Meezan Ardhanu Asagabaldan: Funding acquisition. Aditya Rianjanu: Writing-Review & Editing. Aldes Lesbani: Supervision. Rino R. Mukti: Supervision.

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Correspondence to Tarmizi Taher.

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Taher, T., Melati, E.K.A., Febrina, M. et al. Effect of Desilication on Indonesian Natural Zeolite for the Enhancement of Ammonium Ion Removal from Aqueous Solutions. Silicon 16, 1309–1319 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-023-02758-z

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