Effect of calcination temperature on material from an ant colony (termite): searching for the characterization of new dye adsorbent materials

ABSTRACT The reuse of contaminated water arising from industries is a major challenge in the environmental field, which enables the search for treatments with a view to sustainable development. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the calcination material from an ant colony (termite) in the production of adsorbent materials for methylene blue dye removal. The natural material (NC) and calcined materials at temperatures of 290ºC (C-290), 380ºC (C-380), 450ºC (C-450) and 540ºC (C-540) were characterized using techniques of thermal analysis and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). In NC and C-290 samples, the volatile compounds were evaluated by HS-GC/MS and phenolic compounds were identified by HPLC. The results for the adsorption of the dye methylene blue showed that, while the adsorption process can not be quantified employing the natural material, the process efficiency was quite relevant when the sample was calcined at a temperature of 290°C, whose removal percentage was 96%. Although the calcined sample at this temperature is the most similar to the starting material, performed at a temperature of 290°C acted in reducing the complexity of phenolic and volatile compounds found in the NC sample, which may negatively impact in the adsorption process.