Affiliations 

  • 1 Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh E-mail: atikku_es@yahoo.com
  • 2 Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
  • 3 School of Chemistry and Environment, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
Water Sci Technol, 2020 Nov;82(9):1932-1949.
PMID: 33201856 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2020.451

Abstract

In this study, activated carbon (AC) was prepared from agro-waste betel nut husks (BNH) through the chemical activation method. Different characterization techniques described the physicochemical nature of betel nut husks activated carbon (BNH-AC) through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and pH point of zero charge. Later, the produced AC was used for methylene blue (MB) adsorption via numerous batch experimental parameters: initial concentrations of MB dye (25-250 mg/L), contact time (0.5-24 hours) and initial pH (2-12). Dye adsorption isotherms were also assessed at three temperatures where the maximum adsorption capacity (381.6 mg/g) was found at 30 °C. The adsorption equilibrium data were best suited to the non-linear form of the Freundlich isotherm model. Additionally, non-linear pseudo-second-order kinetic model was better fitted with the experimental value as well. Steady motion of solute particles from the boundary layer to the BNH-AC's surface was the possible reaction dynamics concerning MB adsorption. Thermodynamic study revealed that the adsorption process was spontaneous and exothermic in nature. Saline water emerged as an efficient eluent for the desorption of adsorbed dye on AC. Therefore, the BNH-AC is a very promising and cost-effective adsorbent for MB dye treatment and has high adsorption capacity.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.