Effect of carbon surface chemistry on the removal of reactive dyes from textile effluent

The removal efficiency of activated carbon Filtrasorb 400 (F-400) towards three highly used reactive dyes in the textile industry was investigated. In this work, the adsorption capacities for the anionic reactive dyes, namely; Remazol Reactive Yellow, Remazol Reactive Black and Remazol Reactive Red were determined. The adsorption capacity data showed a high removal ability for the three reactive dyes and a distinguished ability for R. Yellow. The high adsorption capacities for F-400 were attributed to the net positive surface charge during the adsorption process. Surface acidity, surface basicity, H+ and OH- adsorption capacities and pH(ZPC) for F-400 were estimated and compared with other reported values. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.