Thermo-Kinetic Study of Adsorption of Methylene Blue in Aqueous Solutions Using Algerian Illite Natural and Activated Mineral Clay

Abstract

In this study, a local mineral clay was used as an adsorbent for the elimination of a cationic dye: methylene blue (MB), in an aqueous solution by adsorption technique. Early on, we performed mineralogical and textural analyses of a clay sample using various techniques, namely X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The experimental results showed that this adsorbent is a mesoporous and non-swelling clay with illite and kaolinite as the major components with a specific area of about 110m2/g. The study of MB adsorption on the clay was carried out by optimizing the conditions of adsorption, notably the initial concentration of pollutant C0, the mass of clay m, the contact time t, the potential of hydrogen of the solution pH and the temperature T. Experimental results have shown that the equilibrium data are well adjusted by a Langmuir isotherm equation. Thermodynamic parameters such as the changes in Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy were determined from batch experiments. Results revealed that the adsorption of MB onto illitic clay was endothermic and spontaneous process. Kinetic modeling was also carried out. Experimental data adjusted the kinetic model of pseudo-second order with two stages of intraparticle diffusion.