ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Indoor Environment
Volume 11 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2025.1626770
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Approaches for Sustainable & Resilient Processes and Products of Social Housing Development in the Arabian Gulf Countries - Vol 2View all articles
Sustainable Indoor Air Purification Using Treated Puffed Rice Waste: A Functional and Structural Material Evaluation
Provisionally accepted
- 1United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
- 2King Saud UniversityR, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 3King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a critical determinant of occupant health and productivity, particularly in enclosed environments such as classrooms. Simultaneously, the United Arab Emirates faces a pressing environmental challenge in managing agricultural waste, with approximately 40% of imported rice discarded annually. This research presents an integrated solution to both issues by developing a sustainable, bio-based material from waste rice designed for CO₂ capture and indoor air purification. The methodology involved optimizing puffing parameters (moisture, temperature, pressure) to enhance porosity, followed by alkaline functionalization using NaOH to increase hydroxyl group availability for CO₂ adsorption. Structural and chemical characterization was conducted via XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TGA, while CO₂ reduction efficiency was evaluated using a custom contactor system under controlled flow conditions. Results demonstrate that the treated puffed rice achieved a CO₂ removal efficiency of up to 38% at 2 M NaOH concentration and optimal flow rate, outperforming untreated material. Comparative analysis with conventional physical and chemical methods revealed that the developed media offers competitive adsorption performance with improved sustainability, costeffectiveness, and ease of deployment. The proposed material supports circular economic principles and shows promise for passive integration into wall and ceiling applications in energyefficient buildings. This work advances the field of bio-based indoor purification materials and contributes to low-carbon, health-conscious architectural practices.
Keywords: bio-based purification material, Carbon Capture, Environmental sustainability, Indoor pollutants, Energy saving
Received: 13 May 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Khoukhi, Dar Saleh, Ameera, Ali and Abdelbasset. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Maatouk Khoukhi, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
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