Breadnut peel as a highly effective low-cost biosorbent for methylene blue: Equilibrium, thermodynamic and kinetic studies

• Published in: Arabian journal of chemistry 2017-05, Vol.10 (S2), p.S3216-S3228
• Main Authors: Lim, Linda B.L., Priyantha, Namal, Tennakoon, D.T.B., Chieng, Hei Ing, Dahri, Muhammad Khairud, Suklueng, Montri
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption isotherms; Breadnut peel; Kinetics; Low-cost biosorbent; Methylene blue; Thermodynamics
• ISSN: 1878-5352; 1878-5379
• DOI: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2013.12.018

This work reports the potential use of peel of breadnut, Artocarpus camansi, as an effective low-cost biosorbent for the removal of methylene blue (MB). Oven dried A. camansi peel (ACP), which had a point of zero charge at pH=4.8, showed maximum biosorption capacity which was far superior to most literature reported fruit biomasses, including samples that have been activated. Isotherm studies on biosorption of MB onto ACP gave a maximum biosorption capacity of 409mgg−1. The Langmuir model was found to give the best fit among various isotherm models investigated and error analyses performed. Kinetics studies were fast with 50% dye being removed in less than 8min from a 50mg L−1 dye solution and further, kinetics followed the pseudo second order. Thermodynamic studies indicated that the biosorption process was both spontaneous and exothermic. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) of ACP before and after MB adsorption was investigated. It can be concluded that oven dried breadnut peel is a highly promising low-cost biosorbent with great potential for the removal of MB.