Biosorption of Rhodamine B by organo-pomelo peel: Kinetic, mechanistic and thermodynamic studies

Abstract

This work investigated the potential use of organo-pomelo peel(OPP) biomass prepared by adsolubilization to remove Rhodamine B (RB), a common dye in industries, from aqueous solutions. The OPP and precursor were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, and scanning electron microscope. The biosorption of RB strongly depends on the initial dye concentration, pH, temperature, and contact time. The optimum condition was observed at pH6.0, 35°C and 40 min. The equilibrium data was analyzed by using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherm models. The pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and intra particle kinetic models were applied to study the kinetic behavior. The thermodynamic study showed that the biosorption process was exothermic and spontaneous. Results indicated that the OPP was an effective adsorbent for removal of RB from aqueous solution.

Keywords

• adsolubilization
• organo-pomelo peel
• Rhodamine B
• biosorption
• organophilicity