Biosorption of Basic Textile Dye from Aqueous Solution Using <i>Pongamia</i> <i>pinnata</i> as Adsorbent

Abstract

In the present study, the efficiency of biosorbent derived form Pongamiapinata to remove a basic textile dye Methylene Blue from an aqueous solution was evaluated in batch system. The influence of adsorption parameters such as biosorbent dosage (0.2-1.0g/L), PH (2-10) and initial dye concentration (30-110 mg/L) on the biosorption process was studied. It was noticed that adsorbent dosage has negative effect on dye uptake, could be due to reduced mass transfer rate of dye on to adsorbent. High equilibrium uptake was observed at PH 8. However, initial dye concentration has shown linear relationship with dye uptake. As the dye concentration increases, the number of dye molecules available to be adsorbed on to adsorbent surface increases. Equilibrium isotherms for the adsorption of methylene blue was analyzed through Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The data best fit with Freundlich model than Langmuir isotherm model, suggesting the adsorption was by multilayer mechanism. Maximum adsorption capacity (Q ̊) was found to be 40.49mg/g. It can be concluded from the study that the adsorbent derived from P.pinnata can be a potential low cost competent of activated carbon for textile dyes removal.