Comparative Adsorption Study of Methylene Blue on Low Cost Adsorbent

Low cost adsorbent are prepared from activated sugarcane bagasse (ASB), activated waste paper (AWP), and activated Delonix regia Fruit Pod (ADRF)which act as a useful adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue from aqueous phase. The study was carried out using batch experiments with synthetic wastewater having a methylene blue concentration. The effects of contact time were investigated and compared for all the three adsorbents. The adsorption process reached equilibrium within 120min of contact time almost for all adsorbent. Comparative study of contact time indicates that sugarcane bagasse adsorbed at faster rate and adsorbed the maximum. The Freundlich, Langmuir, models were used for mathematical description of the adsorption equilibrium, and it was found that the experimental data fitted very well to the Langmuir isotherm for all the three adsorbent. Batch adsorption studies, based on the assumption of a pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, showed that the kinetic data followed closely a pseudo-second-order rather than a pseudo-first-order mechanism.