New Insights on the Adsorption of Phenol Red Dyes from Synthesized Wastewater using Activated Carbon Prepared from the Fe2(MoO4)3 -treated Mespilus Germanica Leaves: Equilibrium, Kinetic, and Thermodynamic Studies

Abstract

Abstract Water shortage is considered as one of the main challenges of human life. A practical solution to this problem is the wastewater treatment. The removal of dyes from wastewaters has received considerable critical attention by researchers due to their high volume and toxicity. In the current research, the adsorption of phenol red dyes from synthetic wastewater using the activated carbon produced from Mespilus Germanica modified with Fe2(MoO4)3 was studied. The proposed adsorbent was characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, EDX/Map, BET, and Raman techniques. The optimal adsorption operating parameters were pH = 3, stirring rate of 500 rpm, 25°C, the dosage of adsorbent of 1 g/lit, dye initial concentration of 10 mg/lit, and contact time of 60 min. Furthermore, the successful regeneration of the adsorbent for 3 times denoted its capability in performing adsorption and desorption processes. Equilibrium studies showed that the adsorption of phenol red dyes by AC/Fe2(MoO4)3 was desirable and physical and the experimental data were fitted well by Freundlich model. In addition, the kinetic behavior of the current adsorption process was well described by the pseudo-second order kinetic model, while thermodynamic calculations showed that the process was exothermic and spontaneous.