ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Rubber Foam Incorporating Activated Carbon
and TiO2 for the Adsorptive Removal
of Rice Starch Wastewater
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1
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, 65000, Thailand
2
Center of Academic Excellence for Petroleum, Petrochemical, and Advanced Materials,
Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, 65000, Thailand
Submission date: 2025-08-22
Final revision date: 2025-12-01
Acceptance date: 2025-12-05
Online publication date: 2026-02-18
Corresponding author
Duangdao Channei
Department of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, 65000, Thailand., 65000, Phitsanulok,, Thailand
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ABSTRACT
White rice starch is a major pollutant in wastewater from rice noodle production. This study
developed a composite adsorbent (RFAcTD) by incorporating activated carbon (Ac) and TiO2 (TD)
into rubber foam (RF) at varying Ac:TD ratios (4:1, 2.5:2.5, and 1:4). Adsorption behavior followed the
Langmuir isotherm for RFAcTD (4:1 and 2.5:2.5), while the TiO2-rich RFAcTD (1:4) fit the Freundlich
model, indicating multilayer adsorption. Thermodynamic analysis via the Van’t Hoff plot yielded
a ΔH of -83.82 kJ/mol, confirming an exothermic adsorption mechanism driven by strong hydrogen
bonding between starch hydroxyl groups and surface functionalities on the activated carbon and TiO2
of the RFAcTD adsorbent. DFT calculations confirmed that rice starch forms a stable complex with
the modified rubber (RFAcTD) through hydrogen bonding, with interaction energies of -97.72 kJ/mol
in the gas phase and -71.86 kJ/mol in the aqueous phase. Application to real wastewater from Thai
rice noodle factories demonstrated effective starch removal, supporting the potential of RFAcTD for
practical wastewater treatment.