Magnetic alginate beads with high basic dye removal potential and excellent regeneration ability

Abstract

The adsorption of crystal violet (CV) dye onto magnetic alginate (MAlg) composite from aqueous solutions was studied. Experiments were carried out as function of contact time, dosage, temperature, pH, and CV concentration in the solutions. Optimum CV uptake was observed at equilibrium pH 7 and most of the CV was sorbed within 30 min. The equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed using two common adsorption models: Langmuir and Freundlich. The results revealed that Langmuir isotherm fit the experimental results well. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained from Langmuir isotherm equation was 0.113 mmol g−1at 298 ± 1 K. The kinetics adsorption of CV onto MAlg composite was investigated using the pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order kinetic models. The results showed that the adsorption of CV onto MAlg composite followed pseudo second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamic data indicated that the adsorption process is an endothermic and spontaneous reaction. Due to its outstanding adsorption capacities, MAlg composite is an excellent adsorbent for the removal of CV. The composite regeneration was greater than 98.6% with 0.01 mol/L HCl, and MAlg composite could be repeatedly utilized for CV removal with negligible loss in sorption capacity.