Compost as Green Adsorbent for the Azo Dyes: Structural Characterization and Dye Removal Mechanism

The study aimed to determine the feasibility of using compost as a ‘green adsorbent’ for the removal of five anionic azo dyes belonging to the monoazo, disazo and trisazo classes: Direct Red 81 (DR-81), Direct Blue 74 (DB-74), Reactive Blue 81 (RB-81), Reactive Red 198 (RR-198) and Acid Black 194 (ABk-194) from aqueous solutions. The adsorption capacity of the compost was determined using a batch method with initial dye concentrations ranging from 1 to 1000 mg/L. The kinetics of dye removal followed a pseudo-second-order model, indicating chemisorption as the rate-limiting step. The monoazo dyes RB-81, RR-198 and ABk-194 with the smaller molecule size were adsorbed the fastest. The Langmuir and Sips models best fit the adsorption system with maximum adsorption capacities in the range of 12.64 mg/g (RR-198)—20.92 mg/g (ABk-194) and 12.57 mg/g (RR-198)—25.43 mg/g (ABk-194), respectively. The adsorption depended on the dye structure, especially on the ratio of the numbers of proton donors to proton acceptor locations in functional groups. The differences in the adsorption mechanism could be explained by thermodynamic properties such as dipole moments, HOMO–LUMO energy gap, polarizability, electron affinity, ionization potential, electronegativity and chemical hardness obtained by Density Functional Theory.

Graphical Abstract