The Influence of Bentonite on the Removal of Methyl Violet Dye

Abstract

Removal of dyes which are toxic in nature from industrial wastewaters is currently of great interest. For this purpose, the use of Bentonite for the removal of methyl violet dye from aqueous solutions at different contact times, pH and temperature was investigated. Bentonite has a high potential to adsorb reactive dyes from aqueous solutions according to TEM image. The extent of dye removal increased with increasing adsorbent concentration, contact time, pH and temperature. Increasing the temperature shows increasing the rate of diffusion of the adsorbate molecules across the external boundary layer and in the internal pores of the adsorbent particle. The kinetics of the adsorption process was tested for the pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order reaction models. The rate constant of adsorption was obtained for the pseudo-second order kinetic model. The adsorption capacity of the Bentonite is comparable to the other available adsorbents, and it is quite cheaper.