Methylene blue is a cationic dye used for dyeing cotton, wool, and silk. This dye can cause impacts when reaching water resources due to the reduction of sunlight infiltration, besides the health problems if ingested. Therefore, the complete removal of this contaminant in industrial effluents is indispensable. Currently, soybean hulls residues are used in animal feed supplementation; however, since soybean oil production is large, expressive quantities is discarded in landfills. Thus, the present study aim is to evaluate the adsorption capacity of methylene blue onto soybean hulls as an alternative use of this agroindustrial residue. The material was characterized through morphological and chemical analysis which showed porosity, heterogeneity, and functional groups that favor the adsorption. Due to the mainly negative charge of the surface, the pH did not affect the cationic dye uptake, enabling a wide pH range. After the adsorption studies, the best experimental conditions were at temperatures of 298 K, mass of 0.025 g, and contact time of 180 min, resulting in the maximum adsorption capacity of 169.90 mg g−1. When compared with other low‐cost biosorbent and activated carbons, it can be perceived a potential applicability of soybean hulls in wastewater treatment as an alternative use.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.