Comparison of selected adsorbents for adsorption and desorption of vitamin E from palm fatty acid distillate

Performance of four selected adsorbents, namely silica gel (SG), aluminum oxide (AO), synthetic brominated polyaromatic SP 207(SP) and functionalized polyaromatic Dowex Optipore L-285 (DO), for adsorptiondesorption of vitamin E from palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) was compared. Vitamin E from PFAD was preconcentrated and dissolved in hexane. Batch mode adsorption experiments were carried out by reacting the vitamin E solution with the adsorbents separately in an orbital shaker under controlled conditions. It appeared that increasing initial vitamin E concentration favored adsorption process as indicated by an increase in adsorption capacity and percentage of vitamin E uptake. Results showed that the adsorption process was exothermic for all adsorbents. Isopropanol was used to recover vitamin E from the adsorbents. It was found that increasing reaction temperature resulted in a higher vitamin E recovery. SG was the most suitable adsorbent for separation of vitamin E as it possessed the highest adsorption capacity and recovery among adsorbents under experimental conditions employed.