Waste cigarette filters (CFs) were recycled and modified with a nontoxic and low‐cost citric acid (CA). The modified CFs were employed in the adsorptive removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous medium. The influence of pH, contact time, initial dye concentration, and adsorbent dose on adsorption of MB dye was evaluated. The adsorption studies were conducted by employing linear and nonlinear Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The adsorption capacity of CF obtained through linear and nonlinear Langmuir model were 88.02 and 94 mg g−1, which improved up to 163.93 and 168.81 mg g−1, respectively, after the introduction of functional groups in CF‐CA. The adsorption kinetics data were well fitted by pseudo‐second order kinetics with coefficient of regression (R2) closed to unity. The removal efficiency of CF‐CA was 97% at equilibrium time of 4 h. Desorption studies indicated that CF‐CA could be regenerated by using HCl (0.1 M) and desorption efficiency was up to 82% upon second cycle of reusability experiment. This study proposed a green and economical use of recycled CFs in dyes wastewater treatment, simultaneously reducing the negative environmental impact due to their improper disposal.
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.