Magnetic Bagasse Pith as an Efficient Adsorbent for Toxic Dyestuffs (Preparation, Characterization, and Application)

Abstract

An increasing awareness about environmental and economic issues is acting as the poetical force behind the use of waste products from industry and agriculture as valuable materials. Bagasse pith, an agricultural waste produced from pulp industry, was successfully converted into a novel magnetic adsorbent via a simple method using iron salt. Bagasse pith and the modified one were characterized through analytical methods: scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and FTIR while, the adsorption characteristics was examined using Methylene Blue. The equilibrium isotherm for the two types of pith ware studied for different temperatures, 25:75ºC; where Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich models ware used to investigate the equilibrium data, to judge which one simulates the process and determines the adsorption capacity. The results showed that the Langmuir model provided a good description of adsorption behavior. as well as adsorption capacity was slightly improved due to magnetization of pith. In particular, the adsorption rate was so fast that the equilibrium was achieved within 100 min for magnetic pith compared with 140 min for the unmodified one, in addition the maximum capacities were 149.2, 156.3, 166.7 and 175.4 mg.g-1 for magnetic pith at 25, 40, 60 and 75ºC processes temperature respectively.

Keywords

• pollution control
• agricultural wastes
• bagasse pith
• magnetic adsorbent