Bath Adsorption Study of Methylene Blue Dye Onto Sunflower Seeds Husks Activated Carbon

Abstract

Mesoporous activated carbon prepared from sunflower seeds husks (SSH) using physiochemical activation (potassium hydroxide treatment and carbon dioxide gasification). The optimum conditions for preparing activated carbon from (SSH) were found to be activation temperature of 500 oC, activation time of 1.0 h and chemical impregnation ratio of 1:1. The adsorptions of methylene blue (MB) onto sunflower seed husks activated carbon (SSHAC) were studied with respect to initial MB concentration. The experimental data were analyzed by the Langmuir isotherm, the Freundlich isotherm and the Temkin isotherm. Equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir model with maximum adsorption capacity of 410 mg/g at 30 oC for MB concentration range of 50-300 mg/L. Desorption-adsorption studies for the spent SSHAC (saturated with MB) using ethanol as solvent showed that regeneration efficiency around 85%. The results indicated that the SSHAC is very effective for the adsorption of MB from aqueous solutions and can be regenerate to use for more than two adsorption cycles.