Methylene Blue removal from aqueous solution by a biocomposite synthesized from sodium alginate and wastes of oil extraction from almond peanut

In this study, the removal of Methylene Blue dye was investigated by biocomposite beads synthesized from sodium alginate and wastes of oil extraction from almond peanut. Prepared biocomposite was characterized using X-ray diffraction, Infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis. The adsorption capacities of Methylene Blue were investigated with respect to the effect of the adsorbent amount, pH value, and initial dye concentration. The kinetic adsorption data were analyzed by the pseudo first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intra-particle diffusion kinetic models. The equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models. The pseudo second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm equations were found to describe the adsorption mechanism. The thermodynamic studies showed that the adsorption process is a spontaneous and exothermic process with increased entropy. The removal percentage and maximum adsorption capacity of Methylene Blue by biocomposite were equal to 90% and 22.8 mg/g, respectively. The high registered capacities of Methylene Blue removal suggest the potential use of the biocomposite in the treatment of contaminated wastewaters. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.