Effect of Surfactants and Electrolyte on Removal and Recovery of Basic Dye by Using Ficus Carica Cellulosic Fibers as Biosorbent

Abstract

Abstract Natural cellulosic fiber derived from Ficus carica, was used as eco-friendly biosorbent after alkali treatment for methylene blue dye remediation from aqueous system. The biosorbent was characterized by instrumental techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The equilibrium behavior of the biosorbent was investigated in presence of electrolyte and surfactants by batch adsorption experiments. It was observed that in presence of ionic surfactants such as sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDS) and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTABr), the adsorption capacity decreased from 38.97 mg g–1 to 35.64 mg g–1 and 36.75 mg g–1 respectively. The equilibrium data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and were best represented by the Langmuir isotherm model. The pseudo second order kinetic model adequately describes the kinetic data in comparison to first order model. Thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption was endothermic and spontaneous. The desorption studies illustrated that the removal of methylene blue dye at optimized condition was 64.95%, out of which 41.53% of methylene blue dye can be recovered by desorption in first cycle. Thus, the biosorbent used in this work proved to be effective materials for the treatment of dye contaminated aqueous systems.