Enhanced adsorption of methylene blue from textile wastewater by using natural and artificial zeolite

Abstract

This study investigated the adsorption of methylene blue with natural and artificial zeolite. The effect of pH, contact time, initial concentration and adsorbent dose on adsorption was also investigated. An artificial dye was prepared. Adsorption removal efficiency was low at pH = 2, 3 and 4 but it was quite high at pH = 7. It was determined that the contact time reaches equilibrium within 60 minutes in the adsorption of methylene blue with natural and artificial zeolite. The initial dyestuff concentration for both adsorbents was 5 mg/L. For the removal of methylene blue, a 0.5 g natural and artificial zeolite dosage was sufficient. In order to express the adsorption of natural and artificial zeolite on methylene blue, Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm models were examined. In the isotherm study, both natural and artificial zeolite adapted to the Langmuir isotherm model. Langmuir correlation coefficient was 0.998 for artificial zeolite and 0.993 for natural zeolite. Both adsorbent materials best fit into the pseudo-second kinetic model with similar correlation coefficient values of 0.999.