This research aimed to prepare, characterise and apply four iron oxide-chitosan nanocomposites, namely ferrihydrite-chitosan (FC), goethite-chitosan (GC), hematitechitosan (HM) and magnetite-chitosan (MC) as flocculants for the pre-treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME). The nanocomposites were prepared through a co-precipitation method at three (w/w) ratios of iron oxide to chitosan. The physicochemical properties of nanocomposites were characterised by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrometer, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) before and after flocculation experiments to prove the effectiveness of the nanocomposites. The effects of flocculant dosage, solution pH and settling time on flocculation for the removal of total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil and grease (O&G) and nutrients (K, Fe, Mn and Cu) were in.....

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In the present study, ferrihydrite-chitosan nanocomposite (FCN) was successfully produced by co-precipitation method and used for the first time as a recyclable flocculant for pre-treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME). The physicochemical properties of FCN were studied using Raman spectrometer, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Thermogravimetric Analyser (TGA). The feasibility of FCN to remove total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and, oil and grease (O&G) from POME was investigated using a jar test method. The optimum conditions for contaminant removal from POME were determined by varying the experimental parameters such as flocculant dosage, solution pH and settling time. The results obtained showed that FCN, at a dosage of 1.5 g/L, a contact time of 60 min and pH of 5.0 gave a highest reduction of turbidity, TSS, COD and O&G levels by 72.38%, 77.32%, 71.60% and 53.40%, respectively. Besides that, FCN exhibited a better flocculation performa.....

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