article · Modern Chemistry
Industrial activated carbon derived from coconut shells effectively removes both cationic methylene blue and anionic methyl orange dyes from aqueous solutions. Testing across various operational parameters demonstrated that removal rates reached 99 percent for methylene blue within ten minutes and 95 percent for methyl orange within twenty minutes. An adsorbent dose of two grammes was adequate to treat one litre of solution containing 50 milligrammes per litre of each dye. Optimal dye removal occurred at pH levels between 10 and 12 for methylene blue and between 2 and 6 for methyl orange, whereas temperature variations did not significantly affect the process. Adsorption kinetics followed a pseudo-second-order chemical adsorption mechanism, with maximum capacities of 21.23 milligrammes per gramme for methylene blue and 6.43 milligrammes per gramme for methyl orange. Competitive adsorption trials confirmed a selective preference for the cationic dye.
Untreated effluent from textile, cosmetic, and printing industries introduces hazardous synthetic dyes into natural water bodies. Demonstrating that commercially available, coconut shell derived activated carbon rapidly extracts both cationic and anionic dyes provides a clear operational benchmark for effluent purification. This informs cleaner industrial wastewater management practices using sustainable precursor materials.
The findings are relevant to industrial wastewater treatment operators, particularly within the textile, cosmetics, and printing sectors seeking to neutralise dye-laden effluents. Because the study evaluated an existing industrial activated carbon derived from coconut shells, the adsorbent material is already commercially available. However, this work reflects laboratory-scale batch testing, meaning pilot validation and integration into continuous flow filtration systems are still required before real-world adoption.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Synthetic dyes use in several sectors such as cosmetics, printing and textiles, can be harmful to the environment due to the lack of effluents treatment from these sectors. This study therefore aimed to contribute to the simultaneous removal of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solutions using industrial activated carbon based on coconut shells. Activated carbon performance on MB and MO adsorption was evaluated by studying parameters influencing the process such as contact time, adsorbent mass, pH, temperature, initial dye concentration and adsorption selectivity. The removal rate was 99% for MB and 95% for MO after the optimal times of 10 and 20 minutes respectively. A mass of 2 g seems sufficient to remove 1 L of colored solutions of MB and MO concentrated at 50 mg L −1 . As far as concerning the pH, the optimal values were between 10 to 12 for MB and between 2 to 6 for MO. Furthermore, temperature had no significant effect on dye adsorption. Adsorption kinetics simulation showed that the process obeyed pseudo-second-order model following chemical adsorption while adsorption isotherm was better described by Langmuir monolayer and Freundlich multilayer models on heterogeneous surface. Langmuir model indicated maximum adsorption capacities of 21.23 mg g −1 for MB and 6.43 mg g −1 for MO. The simultaneous adsorption competitiveness of the two dyes indicated an adsorption selectivity in favor of the cationic dye. As result of this study, it appears that industrial activated carbon based on coconut shells could be safe and more effective adsorbent in MB and MO removal in aqueous media.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.11648/j.mc.20261403.12
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
