Synthesis of Sodium Alginate-Derived Carbon Aerogel for Adsorptive Removal of Methylene Blue

• Main Authors: Noushin Raeisi Kheirabadi, Noosheen Salman Tabrizi, Parvaneh Sangpour
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Iranian Institute of Research and Development in Chemical Industries (IRDCI)-ACECR 2020-10-01
• Series: Iranian Journal of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
• Subjects: carbonaceous aerogel; methylene blue; adsorption model; kinetics
• Online Access: http://www.ijcce.ac.ir/article_36072_53802c97730cdbc46559abcb5c1d42c8.pdf

In this study, carbon aerogel was prepared from sodium alginate via the sol-gel technique. The morphological study clearly revealed that the synthesized aerogel possessed a highly porous structure with a specific surface area of 470 m2/g. The applicability of the aerogel as an adsorbent was examined in methylene blue removal. Adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and thermodynamic studies of Removal of MB from aqueous solutions were conducted in a batch system. The effect of pH and adsorbent dosage on the adsorption of MB was investigated. The equilibrium data were best fitted to the Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 70.42 mg/g. The adsorption kinetics of MB followed the pseudo-first-order models. Thermodynamic analysis of the results indicated that adsorption is a physical process and is in agreement with data obtained from the Dubinin−Radushkevich isotherm model. The removal of the MB process was spontaneous and endothermic.