Equilibrium and Kinetic Modelling of Astrazon Yellow Adsorption by Sawdust: Effect of Important Parameters

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the sorption of Astrazon yellow (A.Y.) onto sawdust (Aleppo pine tree), a forest waste as that acts as a low-cost adsorbent. In our experiments, the batch sorption is studied with respect to solute concentration, contact time, adsorbent dose, particle size and pH. The adsorption process attains equilibrium within 300 minutes. The extent of dye removal decreased with increasing particle size and increased with increasing contact time, adsorbent dose and pH. The equilibrium data were analysed by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The characteristic parameters for each isotherm were determined. By considering the experimental results and adsorption models applied in this study, it can be concluded that equilibrium data were represented well by the Langmuir isotherm equation. Maximum adsorption capacity calculated at 293K was 81.8 mg/g. Five kinetic models (pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, fractional power, Elovich and intraparticle diffusion kinetic equations) were used to predict the adsorption rate constants. The kinetics of adsorption of the basic dye followed both Elovich and pseudo-second order kinetics, and intraparticle diffusion was not the sole rate-controlling step. The effective diffusion of Astrazon yellow in sawdust according to Boyd Model was 24.22 .10􀀀12 m2/S. In order to reveal the adsorption characteristic of sawdust samples, SEM and FTIR spectra analyses were carried out. The results show that sawdust (Aleppo pine tree) can be an alternative low-cost adsorbent for removing cationic dyes from wastewater.