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Methylene blue dye was adsorbed on an adsorbent prepared from cashew nut shell. A batch adsorption study was carried out with variable adsorbent amount, initial dye concentration, contact time and pH. Studies showed that the pH of aqueous solutions affected dye removal as a result of removal efficiency increased with increasing solution pH. The experimental data were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, Koble-Corrigan, Toth, Temkin, Sips and Dubinin-Radushkevich models of adsorption using MATLAB 7.1. The experimental data yielded excellent fits within the following isotherm order: Redlich-Peterson>Toth>Sips>Koble-Corrigan>Langmuir>Temkin>Dubinin-Radushkevich>Freundlich, based on its correlation coefficient values. Three simplified kinetic models including a pseudofirst-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion equations were selected to follow the adsorption process. It was shown that the adsorption of methylene blue could be described by the pseudo-second-order equation. The results indicate that cashew nut shell activated carbon could be employed as a low cost alternative to commercial activated carbon in the removal of dyes from wastewater.

There is a growing demand for vegetal food having health benefits such as improving the immune system. This is due in particular to the presence of polyphenols present in small amounts in many fruits, vegetables and functional foods. Extracting polyphenols is challenging because extraction techniques should not alter food quality. Here, we review technologies for extracting polyphenolic compounds from foods. Conventional techniques include percolation, decoction, heat reflux extraction, Soxhlet extraction and maceration, whereas advanced techniques are ultrasound-assisted extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, high-voltage electric discharge, pulse electric field extraction and enzyme-assisted extraction. Advanced techniques are 32-36% more efficient with approximately 15 times less energy consumption and producing higher-quality extracts. Membrane separation and encapsulation appear promising to improve the sustainability of separating polyphenolic compounds. We present kinetic models and their influence on process parameters such as solvent type, solid and solvent ratio, temperature and particle size.

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