Potential use of alkali activated clay from common deposit for removal of methylene blue dye

• Published in: Arabian journal of geosciences 2022, Vol.15 (15), Article 1355
• Main Authors: Al-Slaty, Faten, Ibrahim, Khalil, Fayez, Sultan, Mahmoud, Enas N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated clay; Adsorbents; Adsorption; Cation exchange; Cation exchanging; Cations; Clay; Clay minerals; Dosage; Dye dispersion; Dyes; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth science; Earth Sciences; Exchange capacity; Fluorescence; Geopolymers; Isotherms; Kinetics; Methylene blue; Minerals; Original Paper; Removal; Scanning electron microscopy; Sodium hydroxide; Sodium silicates; Water absorption; Water pollution; Workability; X rays; X-ray diffraction; X-ray fluorescence
• ISSN: 1866-7511; 1866-7538
• DOI: 10.1007/s12517-022-10550-3

Common clay deposits are widespread as sources of multiple clay minerals. They are less commonly used as a base material for geopolymers than pure clay deposits. The main goal of this research is to investigate the efficiency of removing methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous systems using alkali-activated clay from a common deposit. The main characters of the used deposit were examined using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The chemical activation was performed using an alkaline activator (Na 2 SiO 3 /NaOH). The rate of water absorption, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and specific surface area (SA) of alkali activated clay were measured. Several experimental variables, including adsorbent dosage, pH value, initial dye concentration, and contact time, were studied to assess the workability of removing MB. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were used to investigate the isotherms of dye adsorption by activated clay. Intraparticle diffusion, pseudo-second-order, and pseudo-first-order models were used to investigate the kinetics. The results indicate that the adsorption capacity increases as the MB dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, and contact time increase. The maximum removal efficiency of MB dye was achieved in a basic medium. With a maximal adsorption capacity of 76.9 mg/g, the Freundlich isotherm best fits the adsorption data. The pseudo-second-order model was shown to be more appropriate for characterizing kinetic behavior in kinetic research. The results revealed that the developed activated clay from a common deposit might be used as an adsorbent to remove the MB dye from contaminated water.