(Unila): Research team of students from the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) Unila worked on processing dye waste, malachite green (MG), using the polyeugenol-based polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) method.
This method uses Polyeugenol as a carrier compound with the capability of absorbing MG from the waste solution. The research was funded by the Student Creativity Program (PKM) organized by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemristekdikti RI) in June 2023.
The team included four members, Annur Valita Sindiani, (the team leader), Rizqohayyu Khusnul Khotimah, Maulana Rabbani, and Bagus Kurniawan. Annur said that this research spent for three months and had significant urgency in reducing textile dye pollutant compounds in waters, especially MG.
The research aimed to contribute to the problem solving of dye waste (MG) regarded as being dangerous for the environment as MG dye in water can cause serious health effects on health, such as mutagenesis, teratogenesis, chromosomal disorders, respiratory toxicity and even carcinogenesis.
The normal concentration limit of MG in real wastewater can reach around 0.01 ppm (Mohamad et al., 2021). The removal of MG from wastewater is necessarily made to sort out the health problems.
Reducing dye waste, namely MG, can be done using one of the liquid membrane methods. The liquid membrane method is an extraction and separation process in one phase, so that mass transfer in the separation is not limited to balanced conditions.
The liquid membrane method has been chosen because it has excellent stability, a wider interfacial surface, high selectivity, good strength, and an easy separation process. The liquid membrane method, especially the PIM membrane, is an environmentally and friendly method (green chemistry) as the method does not require a lot of carriers and solvents.
The research is therefore very important to undertake to develop a new method that can solve the problem of water pollution by textile dye pollutant compounds, especially Malachite Green. [PR Team]
