Recycling of Broken Glasswares Into an Adsorbate for Cationic and Anionic Dyes for Waste Water Treatment

Abstract

Abstract Chemically modified broken laboratory glass wares were proved to act as an efficient adsorbent for both anionic and cationic dyes from waste water. The glassware wastes were chemically modified with sodium hydroxide as silica gel, which are used for cationic dyes adsorption from wastewater. The said modified silica gel is again modified with cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), which is a cationic amphiphile for anionic dye adsorption from wastewater. The both silica gel and modified silica gel were characterized with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The adsorptions of the dyes were confirmed visually as well as using UV- visible spectroscopy. The adsorption capacities of the modified silica gel were quantified using model dyes like methylene blue (MB) (cationic dye) and methyl orange (MO) (anionic dye). The adsorption was found to be 97.84 mg/g for methylene blue and 196.14 mg/g for methyl orange by the modified silica gel. The efficiency of the adsorption was quantified at various dosages, pH, initial concentrations and contact time. The mechanism of the adsorption is predicted by applying mathematical models. This study demonstrated an efficient way of recycling the non-biodegradable broken glassware waste from laboratories for the waste water treatment by modifying as an efficient adsorbate for both anionic and cationic dyes. This study doubly contributes towards the environmental protection by recycling hazardous broken glass wares by modifying that as an adsorbate towards clean water.