Study of competitive adsorption of malachite green and sunset yellow dyes on cadmium hydroxide nanowires loaded on activated carbon

Cadmium hydroxide nanowires loaded on activated carbon (Cd(OH)(2)-NW-AC) was applied for removal of malachite green (MG) and sunset yellow (SY) in single and binary component systems. This novel material was characterized and identified by different techniques such as Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Unique properties such as high surface area (>1271 m(2) g(-1)) and low pore size (<35 angstrom) and average particle size lower than 50 angstrom in addition to high reactive atom and presence of various functional groups make it possible for efficient removal of these two dyes. In the single component system in this study, maximum adsorption capacity of 80.6 for SY and 19.0 mg g(-1) for MG at 25 degrees C was reported. The Langmuir model had very well fit with the experimental data (R-2 > 0.996). A better agreement between the adsorption equilibrium data and mono-component Langmuir isotherm model was found. The kinetics of adsorption for single and binary mixture solutions at different initial dye concentrations were evaluated by the nonlinear first-order and second-order models. The second-order kinetic model had very well fit with the dynamical adsorption behavior of a single dye for lower and higher initial dye concentrations. SY and MG without spectra overlapping were chosen and analyzed with high accuracy in binary solutions. The effect of multi-solute systems on the adsorption capacity was investigated. The isotherm constants for SY and MG were also calculated in binary component systems at concentrations within moderate ranges, the Langmuir isotherm model satisfactorily predicted multi-component adsorption equilibrium data. The competitive adsorption favored the SY in the A mixture solution (both SY and MG concentration at 10 mg L-1) and B mixture solution (25 mg L-1 of SY and 10 mg L-1 of MG). Also, in both cases, kinetic data was fairly described by two-step diffusion model. An endothermic and spontaneous nature for the adsorption of the dyes studied were shown from thermodynamic parameters in single and binary component systems. (C) 2013 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.