Treatment of Colored Effluent using Surfactant Modified Bamboo Leaves Powder

Abstract

Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to remove color from aqueous medium using a novel bioadsorbent prepared from bamboo leaves. Methylene blue (MB) dye was chosen as the source of color and it was adsorbed on bamboo leaves powder (BLP) and surfactant modified BLP using Triton X-100 (TX-100) and Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), separately. The effects of various process parameters, viz. contact time, adsorbent dose, pH, temperature, and stirring speed were investigated in detail. Adsorption efficiencies of all the three adsorbents were compared and analyzed. The performance of SDS modified BLP was found to be excellent. Thermodynamic parameters and reaction kinetics were studied to know the nature and mechanism of adsorption. The results showed that MB adsorption followed pseudo second order kinetics and was endothermic in nature. The adsorption equilibrium was also investigated with the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherm models. The Langmuir isotherm was fitted well with a maximum dye uptake capacity of 125, 143, and 200 mg/g for BLP, BLP modified with TX-100, and SDS, respectively. A regeneration technique was proposed in order to reuse the adsorbent for better economy of the process. Finally, a process calculation was reported to know the amount of adsorbent required for efficient removal of MB.