The removal of methyl red from aqueous solutions using banana pseudostem fibers

Problem statement: The aim of this study was to investigate the removal of methyl red, a mutagenic monoazo dye, from various aqueous solutions using banana pseudostem fibers of the size 212-350 micron. Approach: The parameters studied were the effect of pH, amount of adsorbent, contact time, concentration of adsorbate and agitation speed. Results: Equilibrium data were fitted to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The data were best represented by the latter with an adsorption capacity and adsorption intensity of 0.351 and 0.302, respectively. Conclusion/Recommendations: Specific rate constants of the processes were calculated by kinetic measurements and a pseudo second order adsorption kinetics was obtained for all cases. Key words: Sorption, methyl red, biotransformation, mutagenic, banana pseudostem fibers
INTRODUCTION Rapid progress in industrial activities during recent years has led to the discharge of unprecedented amount of wastewater containing synthetic dyes, which pollutes the rivers and consequently causes harm [...]