Removal of textile dyes from aqueous solutions by natural phosphate as a new adsorbent

The objective of this study was to investigate the ability of natural phosphate (NP) to remove textile dyes from aqueous solutions. The adsorption of methylene blue (MB) as a reference molecule for the adsorption studies of organic molecules, basic yellow 28 (BY 28) and reactive yellow 125 (RY 125) representatives of two families of textile dyes was studied in a batch mode. The experimental results show that NP can totally remove MB and BY 28, whereas a low adsorption affinity was found in the case of RY 125. The adsorption rate data were analysed using the pseudo-first order kinetics of Lagergren and the pseudo second order model to determine adsorption rate constants. The isotherms of adsorption data were analyzed by various adsorption isotherm models. The adsorption was temperature- and pH-dependent with a high adsorption capacity of MB and BY 28 in the basic range and a high adsorption of RY 125 in an acidic range.