The main purpose of the work was to check the possibility of using coconut shells for the removal of the dyes popular in the textile industry from aqueous solutions. The sorption abilities of an unconventional sorbent were tested against four anionic dyes: Reactive Black 5, Reactive Yellow 84, Acid Yellow 23, Acid Red 18 as well as two cationic dyes: Basic Violet 10 and Basic Red 46. The scope of research included investigation pertaining to the effect of pH on the effectiveness of sorption of dyes, conducted in order to determine the time of equilibrium of sorption and determine the maximum sorption capacity of coconut shells with respect to pigments. The most favorable pH of sorption for the anionic dyes and Basic Violet 10 was pH 3 and for Basic Red 46 -pH 6. The equilibrium time of sorption was the shortest in the case of acidic dyes (Acid Yellow 23/ Acid Red 18 -45 min), while the longest in the case of alkaline dyes (Basic Red 46 -90 min, Basic Violet 10 -180 min). The sorption capacity of coconut shells in relation to anionic dyes was for Reactive Black 5 -0.82 mg/g, Reactive Yellow 84 -0.96 mg/g, Acid Yellow 23 -0.53 mg/g and for Acid Red 18 -0.66 mg/g. The tested sorbent showed much higher sorption capacity with respect to the cationic dyes, i.e. Basic Violet 10 (28.54 mg/g) and Basic Red 46 (68.52 mg/g).

The article presents the effectiveness of orthophosphate sorption from aqueous solutions depending on the deacetylation degree of chitosan flakes. The first stage of the research was to determine the pH value at which the sorption process was the most effective (from the pH range 2–11). In the second stage, research was carried out to determine the maximum sorption capacities of chitosan with deacetylation degrees of 75%, 85% and 90% in relation to PO43-. The highest effectiveness of orthophosphate removal on chitosan, regardless of its deacetylation degree, was obtained at pH 4. At pH 2 and 3, the chitosan flakes dissolved. This study showed that the sorption effectiveness of phosphorus compounds depends on the deacetylation degree of chitosan. Along with the increase in deacetylation degree, the sorption capacity of chitosan also increases in relation to orthophosphates. It is related to the higher number of amino groups in the structure of chitosan, which are responsible for the sorption of pollutants in the form of anions. The maximum sorption capacity of chitosan-DD = 75% in relation to biogen was 5.13 mg/g, chitosan-DD = 85% was 5.65 mg/g, and chitosan-DD = 90% was 5.91 mg/g. After 60 minutes, the desorption process had begun and was most likely caused by an increase in the pH of the solution. Due to chitosan's ability to neutralise the sample and the associated risk of desorption, the time of sorbent contact with sewage cannot be longer than 60 minutes.

This article presents the influence of chitin amination on the effectiveness of RB5 and RY84 dye sorption. For chitin and chitin modified by amination, the optimal pH of sorption and the maximum sorption capacity were determined in relation to two reactive dyes: Reactive Black 5 (RB5) and Reactive Yellow 84 (RY84), differing in the active group and molecular weight. Three sorption models were used to describe the experimental data: Langmuir, Langmuir 2 and Freundlich. The highest sorption capacity was obtained for aminated chitin for both tested dyes: 386.53 mg/g for RB5 and 261.56 mg/g for RY84. In the case of sorption on unmodified chitin, the sorption capacities were lower: up to 235.65 mg/g.d.m. for RB5 and 208.88 mg/g.d.m. for RY84. The modification of chitin by amination has a beneficial effect on the amount of dye adsorbed in the process. The adsorptive capacity increased by 1.6-times in the case of RB5 and 1.25-times in case of RY84.

The influence of the degree of deacetylation of chitosan from the range of DD = 75–90% on the effectiveness of sorption of nitrates from aqueous solutions was investigated. The scope of the research included: determining the effect of pH on the effectiveness of N-NO3 binding on chitosan sorbents and determining the sorption capacity of chitosan sorbents with different degrees of deacetylation after 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes. The effectiveness of sorption of nitrates on chitosan sorbents increased in the series DD=75% < DD=85% < DD=90%. Regardless of the degree of deacetylation, the sorption effectiveness of nitrates on chitosan was the highest at pH 4. The amount of nitrate-related sorbents was the highest after 30 min of sorption. A process time which was too long resulted in desorption of nitrates. The maximum sorption capacity for chitosan with the degree of deacetylation DD = 75, 85 and 90% was 0.59 mg N-NO3/g, 0.60 mg N-NO3/g and 0.87 mg N-NO3/g, respectively.