Removal of methylene blue using lemon grass ash as an adsorbent

Abstract

Wastewater from textile industries is a major cause of water pollution in most developing countries. In order to address the issues of water pollution and high cost for treatment processes, the use of an inexpensive and environmentally benign adsorbents has been studied. The objective was to find a better alternative to the conventional methods. Lemon grass waste (ash) collected from a lemon grass stream distillation subunit in Bhutan was tested for dye removal from aqueous solutions. The study investigated the removal of methylene blue using the following operational parameters: initial concentration (100-600 mg/L), contact time, adsorbent dose (0.1-0.55 gm/100 mL), and pH (3-10). It was found that the percentage removal of dye increased with a decrease of the initial concentration and increased contact time and dose of adsorbent. The basic pH solution of dye showed better adsorption capacity as compared to the acidic dye solution. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were fitted to the data well. Data fitted better to Lagergren pseudo 2nd order kinetics than a 1st order kinetic model. Surface morphology was also examined via scanning electron microscopy. An elemental analysis was also carried out and the chemical composition and functional groups were analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy techniques, respectively. The obtained results indicate that lemon grass ash could be employed as a low cost alternative to commercial activated carbon in wastewater treatment for the removal of dyes.