Characterization and Analysis of Argania spinosa Shells from Souss‐Massa Area: Application in the Adsorption of Methylene Blue in Aqueous Solution

Abstract

This study focused on the adsorption in aqueous solution of methylene blue (MB), a cationic dye used in the textile industry, by crushed Argan shells (used as raw materials) from the southern region of Morocco. These crushed Argan shells were first characterized by different technical analyses: elemental analysis, biochemical analysis, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, mercury porosimetry, and zetametry. The adsorption kinetics was then studied by varying the experimental parameters such as the dye concentration in solution. We note that at pH = 8 , there is an elimination up to 232.6 mg/g, during an equilibrium time of 180 min. The correlation coefficient showed that the pseudosecond-order kinetic equation best describes the adsorption kinetics for the tested material. The adsorption isotherms of MB by Argan shells are suitably described by the Langmuir model which provide the best theoretical correlation of the experimental data. The thermodynamics of MB adsorption on Argan shells indicates a spontaneous and endothermic process. It was concluded that an increase in temperature leads to a greater adsorption of MB by the studied biosorbent.

Innovation of argan (Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels) products and byproducts for sustainable development of rural communities in Morocco. A systematic literature review

“…Thereafter, the number of papers dealing with this issue has rapidly increased, also due to the fact that water pollution with different chemicals and/or pharmaceutical products is raising major concern for public health. ANS-derived activated carbon or biochar can be effectively used to absorb dyes such as methylene blue (Ennaciri et al 2014;El Khomri et al 2020;Ouedrhiri et al 2022;Ifguis et al 2022) or crystal violet (El Khomri et al 2022), or pharmaceuticals such as diclofenac (DCF) (Daou et al 2020a), carbamazepine (CBZ) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) (Daou et al 2020b), paroxetine (PARX) (Mokhati et al 2021), sofosbuvir (Babas et al 2022), amoxicillin (Belhamdi et al 2021), or even caffeine (Bouhcain et al 2022) during water treatments.…”

Mechanical, Barrier and Thermal Properties of Amylose-Argan Proteins-Based Bioplastics in the Presence of Transglutaminase

“…The first one, between 180 and 200 °C, was probably due to the depolymerization of low molecular weight proteins [ 31 ]. The second one, from 200 °C to 260 °C, could be due to the decomposition of hemicellulose, possibly present in APs, and the third peak, which appears as a pronounced shoulder, includes the thermal degradation of cellulose and lignin present in APs in the range between 320 and 350 °C [ 36 ]. APs100-based films treated with mTGase showed some differences: it seems that the enzyme improves the thermal stability of the protein component of APs-based films, shifting their maximum degradation temperature to ~240 °C.…”