Extraction and optimization of Austrocylindropuntia subulata powder as a novel green coagulant
Khadija Meftah, Said Meftah, Hajar Lamkhanter, Taoufiq Bouzid, Yassine Rezzak, S. Touil, Aziza Abid
Abstract
Since the last decades, water stress challenges caused by climate change have posed a significant concern for the treatment and re-use of treated wastewater. Conventional treatment methods employ chemicals as coagulants-flocculants, which pose a serious threat. Hence, it has led to a gradual increase in the use of natural plants as promising safe alternatives. In the present work, the Austrocylindropuntia subulata plant was used for the first time as a coagulant-flocculant for wastewater treatment. The raw chlorenchyma powder of the plant was characterized by SEM, FTIR, and EDX, the results showed a very strong resemblance with the composition of the Opuntia ficus indica. The biocoagulant-flocculant was obtained by simple extraction using distilled water. An optimization dose test demonstrated that a mass of 0.1 g decreases approximately 99% of turbidity. After a year of storage, the raw powder retained the same efficiency. The extract's coagulant-flocculant properties remained stable after three months of storage, but it developed an unpleasant odor and a brownish color due to microbial oxidation of organic components.