Characteristics of coconut husk cellulose and its effectiveness as a potassium permanganate absorbent for fishery applications

Coconut husk, an agricultural waste, is abundant in Thailand due to the extensive presence of coconut farms. This current research aimed to determine how to add the value to the coconut husk and examine its ability to absorb dyes used for aquaculture. The research consisted of cellulose production, determination of cellulose qualifications, and assessment of the efficiency of coconut husk and its cellulose to absorb KMnO 4. The efficiency of absorption was based on absorption time, the amount of absorbent, and effect of salinity and temperature. Results showed that cellulose derived from coconut husks exhibited greater viscosity, strength, and tensile resistance compared to coconut husk fibers with 48.10% yield of the extraction. SEM analysis revealed that the outer surface of cellulose is microporous. FTIR analysis revealed that the composition of produced cellulose was similar to the commercially produced one. The structure of cellulose showed 2Ɵ peaks at positions of 16 o and 23 o with thermal degradation ranging from 75–130 o C (residue 90.76%) and 290-385 o C (residue 27.69%). The maximum duration for absorption was 4 hours for both cellulose (88.40±4.20%) and coconut husks (83.20±5.40%). The absorption efficiency of cellulose increased when the content increased and it showed a significantly (p<0.05) better absorption in freshwater (94.80±0.40%) compared to coconut husks (53.10±4.60%), but less absorption in 30 ppt seawater (45.30±8.30%). Moreover, the absorption of cellulose was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of the coconut husks at 20°C, room temperature, and 50°C. These findings clearly suggested the potential characteristics of coconut husks and its cellulose for KMnO 4 absorption at the laboratory scale. There is potential to develop absorption products from coconut husk for the treatment of wastewater from local aquaculture and fishery industry operations before releasing the wastewater into the environment.