Adsorptive Behavior of Kaolin for Amido Black Dye in Aqueous Solution

Abstract

In this study, the adsorption of amido black (AB) dye onto kaolin was investigated. The characterization of kaolin was carried out by powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Adsorption studies showed that the adsorption of AB onto kaolin increased with increasing adsorbent dosage, contact time, pH and temperature but decreased with increasing dye concentration. Equilibrium data fitted perfectly into the Langmuir and Freundlich equilibrium models, moreover, the kinetic data followed the pseudo-second order model. The adsorption process is endothermic and approximately 60.75% AB reduction was achieved when 0.75 g of kaolin was mixed with 20 mL of 40 mg/L AB for 60 min at 200 rpm. Therefore, this study shows that kaolin can be harnessed for the treatment of textile wastewater.