Chitosan preparation from white shrimp shell (Litopenaeus vannamei) for Fe(III) removal from Pontianak municipal groundwater

Abstrak

White shrimp shell (Litopenaeus vannamei) is one of the biomaterial sources to obtain chitin. Chitin could undergo deacetylation process through hydrolysis in strong base solution to produce chitosan. This research aims to determine the potential of chitosan as an environmentally friendly adsorbent for the treatment of groundwater containing high iron ions in Pontianak. The research was conducted in two main stages; obtaining chitosan from the chitin of white shrimp shells, and treating municipal groundwater sample that is high in iron ions content. To obtain chitosan, raw biomaterial chitin from white shrimp shell has been prepared by demineralisation and deproteination process and followed by the deacetylation. The deacetylation of chitin was carried out through hydrolysis reaction in three variation concentrations of aqueous NaOH (i.e 30%, 50%, and 70%-b/v). The measurement of deacetylation degree of chitosan was determined by acid-base titration method and FTIR method. The chitosan with the highest degree of deacetylation was obtained from 70%-b/v NaOH which were 87.4% and 69.0% by acid-base titration method and FTIR, respectively. The chitosan then was utilized in groundwater treatment. The results showed that the chitosan can be utilized as an adsorbent in the pre-treatment process of groundwater in reducing the iron ion content. Almost 40% iron ion were successfully immobilized when 2% (b/v) adsorbent was applied. These results lead to a sustainability of water resources in Pontianak so that city groundwater can be used as an alternative water source for the community.