Removal of Brilliant Green Dye from Water Using Ficus benghalensis Tree Leaves as an Efficient Biosorbent

Abstract

The presence of dyes in water stream is a major environmental problem that affects aquatic and human life negatively. Therefore, it is essential to remove dye from wastewater before its discharge into the water bodies. In this study, Banyan (Ficus benghalensis, F. benghalensis) tree leaves, a low-cost biosorbent, were used to remove brilliant green (BG), a cationic dye, from an aqueous solution. Batch model experiments were carried out by varying operational parameters, such as initial concentration of dye solution, contact time, adsorbent dose, and pH of the solution, to obtain optimum conditions for removing BG dye. Under optimum conditions, maximum percent removal of 97.3% and adsorption capacity (Qe) value of 19.5 mg/g were achieved (at pH 8, adsorbent dose 0.05 g, dye concentration 50 ppm, and 60 min contact time). The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were applied to the experimental data. The linear fit value, R2 of Freundlich adsorption isotherm, was 0.93, indicating its best fit to our experimental data. A kinetic study was also carried out by implementing the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. The adsorption of BG on the selected biosorbent follows pseudo-second-order kinetics (R2 = 0.99), indicating that transfer of internal and external mass co-occurs. This study surfaces the excellent adsorption capacity of Banyan tree leaves to remove cationic BG dye from aqueous solutions, including tap water, river water, and filtered river water. Therefore, the selected biosorbent is a cost-effective and easily accessible approach for removing toxic dyes from industrial effluents and wastewater.

Synthesis of New Hydrogels Involving Acrylic Acid and Acrylamide Grafted Agar-Agar and Their Application in the Removal of Cationic Dyes from Wastewater

“…Indeed, the leaves of the Adiantum capillus-veneris plant revealed a maximum removal of 90.36% crystal violet dye (adsorption capacity of 9.05 mg·g −1 ) without any treatment to activate or alter the surface chemistry of the biosorbent. In another work, these same authors [ 19 ] employed Banyan ( Ficus benghalensis , F. benghalensis ) tree leaves to remove brilliant green (BG) cationic dye from an aqueous solution. Different parameters influencing the efficiency of these bioabsorbants were studied, and the results obtained were a maximum percent removal of 97.3% and an adsorption capacity (Qe) of 19.5 mg·g −1 .…”

Gamma‐sterilized cow‐dung for confiscation of triphenylmethane dyes from water bodies

“…12 Most of the natural adsorbents are low in coordinating functional groups and so the adsorption capacities are very poor. Such materials reported recently with their adsorption capacities are almond shell (CV = 12.2 mg g À1 ), 13 modified rice husk (CV = 62.85 and 90.02 mg g À1 ), 12 banyan tree leaves (BG = 19.5 mg g À1 ), 14 chemically modified areca nut husk (BG = 18.21 mg g À1 ), 15 willow leaves powder (MG = 10.014 mg g À1 ), 16 willow leaves biochar (21.244 mg g À1 ). 16 Thus, it becomes necessary to enhance their adsorption capacities either through composite formation or chemical treatment.…”