Optimized Sorption of Methyl Orange using Functionalized Carob Plant Pod

Abstract

One of the most problematic groups of water pollutants is dye, a main constituent of textile industrial wastewater, which is carcinogenic. Therefore, this research delved into adsorption of dyes from textiles and wastewater using acid-treated as an adsorbent. The adsorbent was prepared by functionalizing the pod of carob with concentrated H3PO4. The effects of operational parameters such as adsorbent dosage, contact time, initial concentration of dye and temperature were studied and optimized using central composite design of design of experiment (DOE). The effects of process parameters (contact time, concentration, adsorbent dosage and temperature) on the dye adsorption were determined and optimized. It was observed that the colour removal efficiency increased with an increase in adsorbent mass and contact time. The adsorption process is endothermic as the percentage removal increases with temperature. The optimum contact time, concentration, adsorbent dosage and temperature were found to be 60oC, 9.74hr, 10ppm, and 5g respectively for the maximum decolorization.