Adsorption Of Methylene Blue from Aqueous Solution with Sulfuric Acid Activated Corn Cobs: Equilibrium, Kinetics, and Thermodynamics Assessment

Abstract

Three adsorbents with different characteristics were produced in this study by activation of sulfuric acid with different concentrations, from corn Zea mays L. cobs, which is an agricultural waste by-product resulting from harvesting. After characterization by the parameters such as Boehm titration, determination of pH-pHpzc, and methylene blue – iodine number, and IR analysis, their methylene blue adsorption potentials from aqueous medium were investigated based on equilibrium, kinetics, and thermodynamics evaluations. This study aims to examine the effects of relatively dilute and concentrated acids on the activation process and to gain an economic value to waste materials through the production of a new adsorbent. It was observed that the initial solution pH did not have a significant effect on the adsorption efficiency. The adsorption process reached the equilibrium at the end of the first 120 minutes, and the kinetic data fit the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Langmuir adsorption capacity 295.5 mg/g of the adsorbent produced by activating with 50% sulfuric acid was found higher than those produced with 75% and 98% acids. An increase in ambient temperature effected the adsorption positively. As a result, in this study, very low-cost adsorbents were produced from the waste by-product corn cobs, and a new approach was proposed for cleaning wastewater containing dyestuffs.