Jackfruit leaf as an adsorbent of malachite green: recovery and reuse of the dye

Abstract

Dry leaf powder of jackfruit (Actocarpus heterophyllus) was utilized for the removal of an industrial dye malachite green from the aqueous solution by the batch adsorption method. The parameters which effect on adsorption such as adsorption dose, contact time between adsorbent and the dye in solution, and pH of the solution were studied and standardized. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) photography of the jackfruit leaf powder (JLP) indicated that it had a large number of pores, spaces and empty sites. The SEM photography of used JLP shows that the dye is confidently attached on the JLP. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of the adsorbent confirmed the presence of different functional groups like –OH, –NH and C=O on its surface, which can be correlated with the fine adherence of the dye on the surface of the adsorbent. Moreover, the shifting of the functional group on the surface of adsorbed adsorbents indicates the affinity of the dye towards the adsorbent. The Freundlich isotherm model with the correlation coefficient (r2) value of 0.9880 is considered as a suitable absorption model for adsorption of dye. The pH of the aqueous solution was reduced from pH 7 to pH 5. This helped the recovery of the 80% of the attached dye. The present work concludes that jackfruit leaf powder can be used as an efficient adsorbent to remove malachite green from aqueous medium and the adsorbed dye can also be recovered for reuse from the surface of the adsorbent.