Iron doped activated carbon for effective removal of tartrazine and methylene blue dye from the aquatic systems: Kinetics, isotherms, thermodynamics and desorption studies.

ABSTRACT

In the current research work, the activated carbon synthesized from the plant species Delonix regia is doped with iron oxide nanoparticles and enforced as a nanosorbent for the effective extermination of Tartrazine (TAR) and Methylene blue (MB) dyes. This nanosorbent is prepared from the bark powder of the Delonix regia and subjected to chemical activation; Furthermore, the synthesized biosorbent were characterized using FTIR, SEM, TGA, and XRD to understand their functional properties and structural morphology. The optimum effectiveness adsorption of Tartrazine and Methylene blue has been investigated by using different key parameters. The conclusions have shown the highest removal percentage at a pH of 3 and 6 for Tartrazine and Methylene blue, respectively. For the various initial concentrations, the adsorption percentage reached equilibrium after 60 min and 90 min for TAR and MB. The adsorption equilibrium values were applied to various isotherms models. The adsorbent showed a higher removal capacity of 357.142 mg g-1 and 147.058 mg g-1 and for MB and TAR respectively. The kinetic data were best fits to pseudo second order model. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that this adsorption process was found to be spontaneous, exothermic and feasible at different temperatures. These results have shown that the prepared adsorbent is an environmentally friendly and suitable material for the elimination of TAR and MB from water systems.