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REMOVAL OF METHYLENE BLUE DYE FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION USING ACTIVATED JAMUN
LEAF POWDER
Ridwanu Murtala
1, Anupam Agarwal
21,2Department of Chemistry Sharda University (India)
ABSTRACT
In the present research work, the leaf of Jamun (Syzgium cumini) plant treated with sulphuric acid and formaldehyde was used as adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous solution. The adsorption characteristics of the dye on activated Jamun leaf powder was evaluated as function of pH, initial concentration of adsorbate, and adsorbent dose. The effective adsorption was found to be in the pH range 3.2 to 7.4, adsorbent dose 0.2g to 0.5g, initial concentration 4mg/L to 16mg/L, at room temperature. The results reveal that maximum adsorption of dye onto Jamun leaf powder is within the range of 92.5% to 98.7%.
Keywords: Adsorbent, Adsorbate, Activated Jamun Leaf Powder, Methylenel Blue Dye.
I. INTRODUCTION
Most industries especially textiles, paper, plastics, leather, food, cosmetics etc use dyes to colour their final product. Such extensive use of dyes poses problems in form of coloured wastewater which require pretreatment for colour prior to disposal into receiving water bodies [1]. This is because this dye-bearing wastewater impart toxicity to aquatic life and damage the aesthetic nature of receiving water bodies environment [2]. Dyes are synthetic aromatic water soluble, dispersible organic colourants, having potential application in various industries. Dyes, once released into water bodies not only produce toxic amines by the reductive cleavage of azo linkages which causes severe effects on human beings through damaging the vital organs such as the brain, liver, kidneys and reproductive systems but also prevent photosynthetic activity in aquatic life by reducing light penetration [3-4]. The removal of colour from effluent is often more important than the removal of soluble colourless organics which normally contributes to the major BOD load. Visual pollution is a serious problem in water quality, it is not easy to accept red or brown rivers [5].Many of the dyes used in industries are stable to light and oxidation and so they are considered as non-oxidizable substances because of their complex structure and large molecular size [1]. Conventional physico-chemical and biological treatment methods are ineffective for the removal of dyes due to the large degree of organics present in these molecules [2-6]. Hence there is a need for other effective methods. Adsorption techniques for wastewater treatment have become more popular in recent years owing to their efficiency in the removal of pollutants.
Activated carbon is the most widely used adsorbent but commercially available activated carbons are very expensive [3-7]. Consequently, many investigators have studied feasibility of using low cost substances such as rice husk[8], orange peel[4], walnut shell charcoals [9], rice bran [10] etc. The objective of the research work is
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to investigate the adsorption properties of Jamun leaf powder for the removal of methyl blue dye. The study includes adsorption as a function of pH , adsorbent dose and initial concentration of dye solution.
II. METHODOLOGY 2.1 Preparation of Adsorbent
The adsorbent used in the present investigation were leaves of Jamun tree collected from Gautam budha Nagar District of Uttar Pradesh state India. The leaves were dried in shadow avoiding direct sunlight on them. The dried plant leaves were grinded into powder and boiled in distilled water to remove the suspended dust for one hour and filtered.
The residue left was treated with formaldehyde and finally with very dilute solution of sulphuric acid, stirred for 30 minutes vigorously using mechanical stirrer at room temperature, filtered and washed with distilled water repeatedly to remove free acid. After chemical treatment residue was dried first in air and finally in oven at 90- 1000C for 5-8 hours and powdered using a grinder. The homogeneous powder then passed through mesh for desired particle size (300micron). The adsorbent once prepared was used throughout the experimental work
.
2.2 Preparation of Adsorbate Solution Methylene blue was the acid dye selected for this research work. The chemicals used were of Analar
grade and used without further purifications. The solutions were prepared in doubly distilled water, a distilled water prepared by using first metal distillation unit [11].
2.3 Batch Adsorption Experiments
Each batch adsorption study was carried out by contacting activated Jamun leaf powder with acid dye i.e. acid blue under different conditions for 60 minutes in a beaker. Stock solution was prepared by dissolving weighed quantity of the dye in doubly distilled water. The concentration of dye solution was determined from calibration curve spectrophotometrically, at its wavelength, i.e (λmax = 663-667nm
)
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Effect of pH
The initial pH value of the solution can significantly influence adsorption of dye. In the present study the effect of pH was analyzed over the pH range from 3.2 to 7.4 ( Fig. 1). The adsorption at lower pH may be characterized to the increase in the concentration of hydrogen ion in the dye solution which neutralizes hydroxyl group in the vicinity of adsorbent surface and facilitates the diffusion of dye molecule toward the surface of the adsorbent. Similar diminishing adsorption was also reported by Bahadur et.al [12], at higher pH may be due to the availability of large number of hydroxyl ions and consequently the diffusion barrier is increased which results in poor adsorption. These findings are in good agreement with Prasad et.al [13]. The study restricted at higher pH level 7.4 which may be attributed to the adsorbent which is plant material and consists of various organic acid components and maylead to a the aqua complex formation and thus retards dye adsorption onto the surface of Jamun leaf powder. This is supported by Mohan et.al [14]
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Figure 1. Effect of pH3.2 Effect of Initial Concentration
The adsorption of the dye onto the surface of Jamun leaf powder were rapid initially, slow down later on and finally reaches towards equilibrium, indicating saturated adsorption (Fig.2). This is supported by Mckay et.al[15]. The increase adsorption of the methylene blue dye onto the adsorbent may attributed to increase in surface activity due to micelle formation or the aggregation of dye molecule in the concentration range studied.
Similar results have been reported by several researchers [16].
Figure 2. Effect of Concentration
3.3 Effect of Adsorbent Dose
Adsorbent dose plays an important role in the adsorption process with quantification of adsorbate solution and the adsorbent. In the present research work, with increase the amount of adsorbent from 0.2g to 0.5g the removal efficiency of dye increases rapidly (Fig.3) which may be attributed to the greater availability of exchangeable sites or surface areas at higher concentration of the adsorbent. This is also in good agreement with Hussein et.al [17].
Figure 3. Effect of Adsorbent Dose (g)
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IV. CONCLUSIONFrom these experimental results, it has been found out that the activated Jamun leaf powder is an excellent adsorbent for the removal of acid dyes from aqueous solution under certain physicochemical conditions. The result indicates the potentially practical value of Jamun leaf powder as adsorbent.
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