Kinetic Studies of Reactive Orange 16 (RO16) Dye Removal from Aqueous Solution using PIMs

Abstract

Polymer inclusion membrane (PIMs) was used as an extractant for the removal of Reactive Orange 16 (RO16) dye as it is an easy and effective way. The extraction process is used because it is found to be more economical and effective compared to other dye removal methods. The PIM consists of Polyvinylidene Fluoride Co-Hfp (PVDF-Co-HFP) as a base polymer, Aliquat 336 as a carrier with the solvent of Tetrahydrofuran (THF). The formulations of the components were varied to determine the optimum composition of membrane with the effective extraction ability. Various parameters such as effect of carrier, initial dye concentration and pH were investigated. The optimum extraction of RO16 dye using PIMs were found to be at composition M3, 9 % of carrier which is worked best on 10 mg/L initial dye concentration in 4 hour time at pH 2 with agitation speed of 500 rpm at room temperature. Kinetic modelling was studied to analyse the extraction process and removal of dye by using the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order. The kinetic model fits very well with the kinetic data using pseudo-second-order. The highest percentage removal of RO16 dye was 99.62 % and it is proven that PIMs has the potential to remove the dye.