Sorptive Removal of Dyes Using Titanium Phosphate

Abstract

Basic dyes have been found to be the most soluble dyes used in textile industries that, with their tinctorial values being high and even in small quantities, produce obvious coloration. Adsorption has often been used as a method to remove dissolved contaminated organic compounds because of simplicity of design, ease of operation, and insensitivity to toxic substances. When a cation-exchange material is used as a sorbent, it is believed that the interaction of the functional groups present in the dye with the matrix material (sorbent) being used could be anywhere from covalent to Coulombic, hydrogen bonding, or weak van der Waals forces. In the present study, titanium phosphate (TiP), an inorganic ion-exchange material of the class of tetravalent metal acid salt has been synthesized by sol−gel method, characterized, and used as a sorbent. The sorption behavior of cationic dyes Crystal Violet (CV), Rhodamine 6G (R6G), Methylene Blue (MB), and Pink FG (PFG) toward TiP has been studied, based on thermodynamic parameters evaluated and adsorption isotherms (Langmuir and Fruendlich). Breakthrough capacity and elution behavior of dyes have also been studied. Sorption affinity of dyes toward TiP is found to be MB > CV> R6G > PFG.