Removal of Acid blue 113 from aqueous medium using a novel magnetic adsorbent derived from activated carbon fiber

ABSTRACT

In this study, adsorption of Acid Blue 113 dye (AB113) onto the magnetically activated carbon fibre (ACF) with iron oxide nanoparticles (ACF/Fe₃O₄) was evaluated. Effects of different reaction conditions, e.g. contact time, pH, AB113 ion concentrations, and temperature, were also studied. The batch adsorption studies revealed that the AB113 ions reached equilibrium at 90 min. From the results, it was clear that when the initial AB113 concentration was 10 mg/L and pH was 3, a 100% removal percentage was achieved in the presence of ACF/Fe₃O₄ (a dosage of 0.8 g/L) at $30$. The thermodynamic parameters revealed that the process is endothermic, spontaneous, and thermodynamically favourable. Under the best experimental conditions, the maximum adsorption capacity was obtained to be 121.4 and 112.2 mg. g⁻¹, according to the nonlinear and linear Langmuir model. Adsorbent reuse was performed in six consecutive cycles, and the results showed high adsorbent efficiency in all cycles. Linear and nonlinear forms of six isotherm models and four kinetic models were investigated, and the equilibrium data, in addition to regression coefficient (R²), were matched with four error coefficient models. As a result, due to the high R² and the lower error coefficient, the equilibrium data follow the Langmuir isotherm and Pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetic with both linear and nonlinear models. The adsorption mechanism can be explained through π-π bonds, hydrogen bonds, and electrostatic interactions. The prepared ACF/Fe₃O₄ presented excellent adsorption capacity for the removal of AB113, demonstrating its viability for removing this contaminant from the aqueous medium.

KEYWORDS:

• Acid Blue 113
• Magnetic activated carbon fibre
• error analysis
• thermodynamic
• recycling

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences for the financial support of this study. Additionally, the authors give special thanks to the Al-Mustaqbal University College (Iraq) and the Chemical Laboratory of the School of Public Health, Iraq, for their valuable efforts in accomplishing this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contribution

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Amir Hossein Mahvi and Edris Bazrafshan. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Davoud Balarak and Elham Safari; all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan-Iran. (code: 102346).