In this study, methyl violet (MV) dye adsorption from synthetically prepared solutions onto montmorillonite was investigated. Experimental parameters were selected as stirring speed, adsorbent dosage, initial dyestuff concentration, initial solution pH, ionic strength, and temperature. It was determined that adsorption rate increased with increased stirring speed, initial dye concentration, solution pH, ionic strength, and temperature, but decreased with increased adsorbent dosage. The experimental data were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms, and it was found that the isotherm data were reasonably correlated by Langmuir isotherm. Maximum adsorption capacity of montmorillonite for MV dye was calculated as 230.04 mg g À1 . Pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intraparticle particle diffusion models were used to fit the experimental data. Pseudo-second-order rate equation provided realistic description of adsorption kinetics. Thermodynamic parameters were calculated as 62.14 kJ mol À1 , 59.55 kJ mol À1 , 51.98 kJ mol À1 , and 0.0242 kJ mol À1 K À1 for Ea, DH Ã , DG Ã , and DS Ã at 293 K, respectively. The value of the calculated parameters indicated that the physical adsorption of MV on the clay was dominant and the adsorption process was also endothermic. The positive values of DS suggest the increased randomness. The positive DG value indicated the un-spontaneous nature of the adsorption model.
