Characterisation of water-soluble protein powder and optimisation of process parameters for the removal of sulphonamides from wastewater.

A valuable method for the efficient removal of sulphonamides from wastewater using protein powder extracted from the seeds of Moringa stenopetala is presented in this study. The surface morphology, crystallinity and functional groups of protein powder were characterised by SEM, XRD, FTIR and Raman spectrometry. Parameters that affect the removal of sulphonamides, such as concentration, the adsorbent dosage and pH, were optimised. The method was applied to a real wastewater sample collected from the Daspoort Wastewater Treatment Plant located in Pretoria, South Africa. The percentage removal under optimum conditions was observed to be 86.4 to 95.1% for the aqueous solution of a mixture of standards and from 83.0 to 90.5% and 75.2 to 87.7 % for the effluent and influent wastewater samples respectively. Therefore, proteins extracted from Moringa stenopetala seeds demonstrated to be effective and environmentally friendly material for possible application in water treatment in general and wastewater treatment in particular.