Biochar caged zirconium ferrite nanocomposites for the adsorptive removal of Reactive Blue 19 dye in a batch and column reactors and conditions optimizaton

Abstract

Abstract Biochar caged zirconium ferrite (BC-ZrFe2O5) nanocomposites were fabricated and their adsorption capacity for Reactive Blue 19 (RB19) dye was evaluated in a fixed-bed column and batch sorption mode. The adsorption of dye onto BC-ZrFe2O5 NCs followed pseudo-second-order kinetics (R 2 = 0.998) and among isotherms, the experimental data was best fitted to Sips model as compared to Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms models. The influence of flow-rate (3–5 mL min−1), inlet RB19 dye concentration (20–100 mg L−1) and quantity of BC-ZrFe2O5 NCs (0.5–1.5 g) on fixed-bed sorption was elucidated by Box-Behnken experimental design. The saturation times (C t /C o = 0.95) and breakthrough (C t /C o = 0.05) were higher at lower flow-rates and higher dose of BC-ZrFe2O5 NCs. The saturation times decreased, but breakthrough was increased with the initial RB19 dye concentration. The treated volume was higher at low sorbent dose and influent concentration. Fractional bed utilization (FBU) increased with RB19 dye concentration and flow rates at low dose of BC-ZrFe2O5 NCs. Yan model was fitted best to breakthrough curves data as compared to Bohart-Adams and Thomas models. Results revealed that BC-ZrFe2O5 nanocomposite has promising adsorption efficiency and could be used for the adsorption of dyes from textile effluents.