DOI: https://doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.20623

Sustainable Removal of Methylene Blue Using an Inverse-Vulcanized Polysulfide Derived from Waste Cooking Palm Oil

1Department of Soil Sciences and Agri-food Engineering, Université Laval, Quebec QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

2Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah, Lebuhraya Persiaran Tun Khalil Yaakob, Kuantan, Pahang, 26300, Malaysia

3Centre for Sustainability of Mineral and Resource Recovery Technology (Pusat SMaRRT), Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah, Lebuhraya Persiaran Tun Khalil Yaakob, Kuantan, Pahang, 26300, Malaysia

Received: 5 Jan 2026; Revised: 17 Mar 2026; Accepted: 18 Mar 2026; Available online: 25 Mar 2026; Published: 30 Oct 2026.
Editor(s): Istadi Istadi
Open Access Copyright (c) 2026 by Authors, Published by BCREC Publishing Group
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Abstract

The environmental impact of waste palm cooking oil (WCO) has prompted extensive research into its potential applications, as it remains a significant pollutant, particularly in urban areas. This study investigates the synthesis of polysulfide using elemental sulfur and WCO as a sustainable method to repurpose these waste materials. The synthesized polysulfide showed effective methylene blue (MB) dye adsorption from wastewater, with adsorption performance assessed by varying the sulfur content (wt%) and dosage levels. Characterization techniques, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), were employed to analyze its structural and morphological properties. At the same time, UV-Vis spectrophotometry was used to measure the color removal efficiency. The highest removal rate of 78% was achieved at 70 wt% sulfur using 5 g of polysulfide in a 5 mg/L MB solution. The adsorption followed the Temkin adsorption isotherm (R2 = 0.96). Post-adsorption FTIR analysis confirmed that the degradation followed a physisorption mechanism, as no changes in functional bonds were observed. By simultaneously addressing WCO and sulfur waste, this study underscores the potential of polysulfide as an effective, sustainable adsorbent for wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2026 by Authors, Published by BCREC Publishing Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Keywords: Waste palm cooking oil; Polysulfide adsorbent; Inverse vulcanization; Methylene Blue removal; Dye adsorption
Funding: Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, RDU 1901185 (Ref. FRGS/1/2019/TK02/UMP/02/22).

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Section: 3rd International Symposium of Reaction Engineering, Catalysis and Sustainable Energy 2025 (RECASE 2025)
Language : EN
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