Sorption of methyl orange molecules on polyacrylonitrile-coated kapok fibers in a fixed bed set-up at dynamic conditions

Abstract

Polyacrylonitrile-coated kapok fibers (PAN-KF) were used as sorbent material for methyl orange (MO) dye under dynamic conditions using a fixed bed set-up. The PAN molecules were coated on kapok fibers using a facile surfactant-assisted technique. In this technique, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) molecules were used as the surfactant and acrylonitrile as the precursor monomer. PAN-KF successfully absorbed MO under dynamic conditions. Long breakthrough and exhaustion times were achieved at lower initial concentration of methyl orange, higher bed height, and slower flow rate. Furthermore, PAN-KF sorbent in a fixed bed set-up has larger removal efficiency and exhaustion capacity compared to that of activated charcoal with the same mass and bed height.