Removal of basic dye from aqueous medium using a novel agricultural waste material: Pumpkin seed hull

In this work, pumpkin seed hull (PSH), an agricultural solid waste, is proposed as a novel material for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The effects of the initial concentration, agitation time and solution pH were studied in batch experiments at 30 degrees C. The equilibrium process was described well by the multilayer adsorption isotherm. The adsorption kinetics can be predicted by the pseudo-first-order and the modified pseudo-first-order models. The mechanism of adsorption was also studied. It was found that for a short time period the rate of adsorption is controlled by film diffusion. However, at longer adsorption times, pore-diffusion controls the rate of adsorption. Pore diffusion takes place in two distinct regimes, corresponding to diffusion in macro- and mesopores. The results demonstrate that the PSH is very effective in the removal of MB from aqueous solutions. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.