Efficiency of Wood-Dust of Dalbergia sisoo as Low-Cost Adsorbent for Rhodamine-B Dye Removal.

Dibyashree Shrestha

doi:10.3390/nano11092217

Abstract

Wood-dust of Dalbergia sisoo (Sisau) derived activated carbon (AC) was successfully tested as an adsorbent material for the removal of rhodamine B dye from an aqueous solution. The AC was prepared in a laboratory by the carbonization of wood powder of Dalbergia sisoo at 400 °C in an inert atmosphere of N2, which was chemically activated with H3PO4. Several instrumental techniques have been employed to characterize the as-prepared AC (Db-s). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)/differential scanning colorimetry (DSC) confirmed that 400 °C was an appropriate temperature for the carbonization of raw wood powder. The FTIR spectra clearly confirmed the presence of oxygenated functional groups such as hydroxyl (–OH), aldehyde/ketone (–CHO/C=O) and ether (C–O–C) at its surface. The XRD pattern showed the amorphous structure of carbon having the 002 and 100 planes, whereas the Raman spectra clearly displayed G and D bands that further confirmed the amorphous nature of carbon. The SEM images displayed the high porosity, and the BET analysis revealed a high surface area of 1376 m2 g−1, a pore volume of 1.2 cm3 g−1, and a pore size of 4.06 nm with the coexistence of micropores and mesopores. The adsorption of dyes was performed by varying the dye concentration, pH, time, and the sample dose. The maximum percent of RhB dye removal by AC (Db-s) was 98.4% at an aqueous solution of 20 ppm, pH 8.5, an adsorbent dose of 0.03 g, and a time of 5 min. This study proved to be successful in addressing the local problem of wastewater pollution of garment and textile industrial effluents using locally available agro-waste of Dalbergia sisoo.

Highlights

The low ash content in the samples indicated that the precursor contained low inorganic matter, and the low moisture content exhibited the raw material is good for the preparation of activated carbon (AC) and the efficiency of reactivation
AC was successfully prepared from the agro waste of Dalbergia sisoo by activating with H3 PO4 followed by carbonization at 400 ◦ C
BET measurements showed the formation of a mesoporous structure with an active surface area of 1376 m2 g−1, a pore volume of 1.2 cm3 g−1, and a pore size of 4.06 nm

Summary

Introduction

Effluents discharged from various industries, such as textiles, paints, printing, cosmetics, pulp mills, paper, rubber, pharmaceuticals, plastics, foods, and leather, have become a universal problem. These industries extensively use a large volume of dyes and generate plentiful wastewater which pollutes the environment. Textile dyes are one of the chief components among them [2] and, have a harmful effect on human and animal health [3]. The issue of enormous amounts of synthetic dyes to the water streams has stood a serious risk to the environment [5]

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