Kinetic and Thermodynamic Analysis of the Adsorption of Methylene Blue onto Biochar

Abstract

Millions of people do not have access to clean drinking water; thus, cost-efficient water treatment systems are vital. Chemists, environmentalists, technicians, and engineers will be the professionals making breakthroughs in this industry. This laboratory experiment aims to introduce undergraduate students to the removal of pollutants from water using biochar. Specifically, the study explores the kinetics and thermodynamics of methylene blue adsorption onto biochar using UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. These general chemistry concepts can readily be observed in real time, as the blue color of the methylene blue solution decreases as it adsorbs on biochar. Students in a pilot course have shown their ability to relate thermodynamics and kinetics to the reaction mechanism in the form of a postlaboratory report.

A Simple and Colorful Experiment to Show Nanowire Membrane Construction for Molecule Separation

“…Molecule separation and purification are extremely significant processes in the chemical industry and also provide lots of input in teaching. , Students’ separation and purification experiments mainly focus on paper chromatography, − column chromatography, − layer chromatography, − liquid–liquid extraction, − solid–liquid extraction, − and adsorption, − while little attention is being paid to an advanced separation techniquemembrane filtration. According to the statistics of the Journal of Chemical Education , there are plenty of publications concerning chromatography, while there is only one paper reporting about membrane filtration experiments in the past decade …”