Adsorptive removal of basic dye by chemically activated Parthenium
biomass: equilibrium and kinetic modeling

Hem Lataa, V.K. Gargb and R.K. Guptaa, Corresponding Author Contact
Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author
aDepartment of Chemistry, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and
Technology, Hisar 125001, Haryana, India
bDepartment of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guru Jambheshwar
University of Science and Technology, Hisar 125001, Haryana, India
Received 19 December 2006; accepted 6 May 2007. Available online 6
December 2007.

Abstract

This paper reports the removal of a basic dye (rhodamine-B) by the
activated carbon prepared from Parthenium biomass by sulphuric acid
treatment method (SWC). The effectiveness of the prepared adsorbent
has been studied as a function of agitation time, adsorbent dosage,
initial dye concentration and pH. The removal of rhodamine-B by SWC
followed second order kinetic model. The second order model best
describes adsorption kinetic data. Adsorption data were modeled using
both Langmuir and Freundlich classical adsorption isotherms. The
adsorption capacity Q0 was 18.52 mg/g at initial pH 7 for the particle
size 0.3â€"1 mm. The equilibrium time is about 60 min for the studied
initial dye concentrations. Maximum dye removal (99.2%) was obtained
at pH 7 using an adsorbent dose of 16.0 g/L for 50 mg/L dye
concentration in the aqueous solution. FT-IR spectra of the adsorbents
were recorded to explore the number and position of functional groups
available for the binding of dye onto studied adsorbents. The presence
of O-H, C=O and C-O groups was identified in the adsorbent. SEMs of
the native and exhausted (SWC) were recorded to explore the morphology
of the adsorbent.

Keywords: Rhodamine-B; Sulphuric acid; Parthenium; Adsorbent;
Adsorption equilibrium; pH; FT-IR; Langmuir; Adsorbent dose; SEM

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