Methylene Blue Dye Removal from Aqueous Media Using Activated Carbon Prepared by Lotus Leaves: Kinetic, Equilibrium and Thermodynamic Study

Abstract

In the present work, methylene blue was eliminated from aqueous solution using activated carbon prepared by lotus leaves. To perform the experiments, batch method was applied. Also, several analyses such as SEM, FTIR, EDAX and BET were done to determine the surface properties of the activated carbon. The results showed that the maximum sorption efficiency of 97.59% was obtained in initial dye concentration of 10 mg/L, pH of 9, adsorbent dosage of 4 g/L, temperature of 25 °C, contact time of 60 min and mixture speed of 400 rpm. Furthermore, the maximum adsorption capacity was determined 80 mg/g, which was a significant value.\xa0 The experimental data was analyzed using pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intra-particle diffusion kinetic models, which the results showed that the pseudo-second order kinetic model could better describe the kinetic behavior of the sorption process.\xa0 Also, the constant rate of the pseudo-second order kinetic model was obtained in the range of 0.0218-0.0345 g/mg.min. Moreover, the adsorption equilibrium was well described using Freundlich isotherm model. Furthermore, the thermodynamic studies indicated that the sorption process of methylene blue dye using the activated carbon was spontaneous and exothermic.