Adsorption of dyes from aqueous textile by-products on activated carbon from Scenedesmus obliquus

Abstract

The adsorption of activated carbon prepared from Scenedesmus obliquus (algae) was evaluated through adsorption of Astrazon red. The adsorption efficiency of activated carbon was determined based on the specific surface area and pore size distribution. These results were compared with the results obtained with untreated algae. Approximately a 3-fold increase in the percentage of dye removal was observed for activated carbon compared to the untreated material. The primary reason for this observation may be the increase in specific surface area and total pore volume by chemical activation from 0.0136 to 423.7001 m2 g-1 and from 0.0012 to 0.1643 cm3 g-1, respectively. A pseudo-second-order model was fit with the kinetic data and the results indicate chemical adsorption. The maximum adsorption capacity of activated carbon was 181.82 mg g-1 at 25°C according to Langmuir isotherm model. © 2017 Taylor & Francis.