Removal of malachite green dye from water using orange peel as an adsorbent

Abstract

The objective of this project work is to study the adsorption of Malachite Green dye using orange peel adsorbent. Cheap and eco-friendly adsorbent has been used for removal of malachite green dye from aqueous solution. Liquid phase batch operations were carried out to observe the effect of various experimental parameters such as contact time, temperature, pH, initial concentration of malachite green, adsorbate dose and the optimum conditions for these parameters were evaluated. Various characteristics of the orange peel sample were also examined. Study of adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherms was carried out and best fitting models for rate kinetics and isotherms were suggested. The kinetic experimental data was analyzed using two kinetic equation-pseudo first order equation and pseudo second order equation. It was observed that it followed the pseudo first order equation. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were used to fit the equilibrium data and the results showed that the Langmuir isotherm seemed to agree better than the Freundlich isotherm. The Gibbs energy was calculated which showed that it is an exothermic reaction. The results indicated that orange peel can be used as a good low cost alternative for treatment of effluents containing malachite green in water.