Removal of basic dyes from solution using coconut shell charcoal

Abstract

This research aims to use agricultural waste as an adsorbent for dye removal from textile wastewater. Coconut shell charcoal (CSC), an agricultural waste, was used as dye adsorbent whilst basic yellow13 (BY13) and basic red14 (BR14) were used as representative dye used in textile manufactory. The removal of BY13 and BR14 from aqueous solution by CSC was investigated in batch adsorption at room temperature. Two parameters investigated in this research were pH of dyes solution; pH 2, 7, and 11, and particle size of adsorbents; 510-700 μm and 1000-2000 μm. The adsorption model, Langmuir and Freundlich were also examined. It was found that by CSC, BY13 and BR14 had maximum removal percentage of 23.6 and 55.7 at pH 11. Size of adsorbent had also shown the effect on dye removal, i.e.; increasing size with decreasing removal capability. The dye removal experimental data were fitted to Langmuir adsorption model for both dyes with maximum adsorption capacity (qm) for BY13 and BR14 of 19.76 and 22.93 mg/g, respectively. It can be implied that the adsorption is monolayer. It can conclude that CSC can be used as adsorbent for basic dye removal from aqueous solution. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017.