Simultaneous adsorption of malachite green and methylene blue dyes in a fixed-bed column using poly (acrylonitrile-co-acrylic acid) modified with thiourea

• Main Authors: Abdullah, L.C (Author), Adeyi, A.A (Author), Alias, N.H (Author), Choong, T.S.Y (Author), Jamil, S.N.A.M (Author), Lau, K.L (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG, 2020
• Subjects: acrylamide derivative; Acrylamides; adsorption; Adsorption; Binary system; chemistry; coloring agent; Coloring Agents; Fixed-bed; fuchsine; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; infrared spectroscopy; Linear Models; malachite green; Malachite green; methylene blue; Methylene blue; Methylene Blue; pH; poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid); procedures; Rosaniline Dyes; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; statistical model; temperature; Temperature; thiourea; Thiourea; Thiourea-modified poly(acrylonitrile-co-acrylic acid); water; Water; water management; water pollutant; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Water Purification
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher; View in Scopus

 Proper remediation of aquatic environments contaminated by toxic organic dyes has become a research focus globally for environmental and chemical engineers. This study evaluates the adsorption potential of a polymer-based adsorbent, thiourea-modified poly(acrylonitrile-co-acrylic acid) (T-PAA) adsorbent, for the simultaneous uptake of malachite green (MG) and methylene blue (MB) dye ions from binary system in a continuous flow adsorption column. The influence of inlet dye concentrations, pH, flow rate, and adsorbent bed depth on adsorption process were investigated, and the breakthrough curves obtained experimentally. Results revealed that the sorption capacity of the T-PAA for MG and MB increase at high pH, concentration and bed-depth. Thomas, Bohart-Adams, and Yoon-Nelson models constants were calculated to describe MG and MB adsorption. It was found that the three dynamic models perfectly simulate the adsorption rate and behavior of cationic dyes entrapment. Finally, T-PAA adsorbent demonstrated good cyclic stability. It can be regenerated seven times (or cycles) with no significant loss in adsorption potential. Overall, the excellent sorption capacity and multiple usage make T-PAA polymer an attractive adsorbent materials for treatment of multicomponent dye bearing e_uent in a fixed-bed column system. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.