Abstract:
This research aims to analyze the effect of activation on the characterization results of
pineapple leaf charcoal and determine the optimum adsorbent dose and optimum
contact time for the adsorption of activated pineapple leaf charcoal on lead(II) metal
ions. Pineapple leaf activated charcoal is made through a carbonization process at a
temperature of 300 °C for 1 hour, then activated using a 2% NaOH solution with a ratio
of 1:30 (w/v). Pineapple leaf charcoal before and after activation was characterized
based on the quality requirements of activated charcoal in accordance with SNI No. 06-
3730-1995, which include water content, ash content, adsorption capacity for iodine,
and adsorption capacity for Methylene Blue. Adsorption begins by varying the
adsorbent dose (0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 grams) with the aim of getting the optimum dose,
then varying the contact time (15, 30, and 45 minutes) to determine the contact time
optimum in the adsorption process. FTIR analysis was carried out to identify the
functional groups contained in the adsorbent. The characterization of charcoal based on
SNI No. 06-3730-1995 shows that activated charcoal meets the requirements with a
water content of 3.122%, an ash content of 0.5326%, an iodine adsorption capacity of
894.8225%, a 20.3461% adsorption capacity of Methylene Blue, and a surface area of
75.4367 m2/g. The results obtained in this research were that the best adsorbent dose
was 0.3 grams, and the optimum contact time occurred at 30 minutes with an adsorption
capacity of 17.6086 mg/g and an adsorption efficiency of 96.08%. Based on the
research results, it can be concluded that the activation process can improve the quality
of characterization, and the adsorbent dose and contact time can influence the
adsorption capacity of pineapple leaf activated charcoal in adsorbing lead(II) metal ions.
