Granular activated carbon optimization for enhanced environmental disaster resilience and malathion removal from agricultural effluent

¹ East Coast Environmental Research Institute, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu 21300, Malaysia
² Faculty of Bioresource and Food Technology, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 22200 Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia
³ Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
⁴ Laboratory of Algal Biotechnology, Centre Algatech, Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Opatovický mlýn, Novohradská 237, 379 81 Třeboň, Czech Republic
⁵ Faculty of Ocean Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21300 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu
⁶ Faculty of Informatics and Computing, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 22200 Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: hajjarjusoh@unisza.edu.my, aidamahiddin@unisza.edu.my

Abstract

The study aimed to address the critical problem of malathion pesticide contamination in agricultural runoff and its adverse impact on the environment. It specifically focused on utilizing granular activated carbon (GAC), derived from both coal (CBAC) and peat (PBAC), as a promising solution for effective malathion removal. This study focused on the substantial influence of particle size and GAC dosage on the removal efficiency of malathion. It was determined that optimal conditions, resulting in an impressive 90% removal efficiency, were achieved when the initial malathion concentration of 7 μg L^-1 was reduced to approximately 1.14 μg L^-1 and 1.5 μg L^-1 for CBAC with particle sizes of 0.063 mm and 1.0 mm, respectively. In contrast, PBAC exhibited a removal efficiency of 2.87 μg L^-1 under similar conditions. The study further employed the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms models to analyze the adsorption behavior of malathion on GAC. The equilibrium data closely aligned with both models, and the maximum adsorption capacity was determined to be an impressive 248.1 mg g^-1. These findings highlight the significant potential of GAC, whether coal or peat-based, as a highly effective absorbent material for mitigating malathion contamination in agricultural runoff. This research contributes to enhancing environmental disaster resilience by offering a viable method for optimizing GAC use, thereby reducing the detrimental effects of pesticide contamination on the environment.