Adsorptive decontamination of hazardous Rhodamine B dye by using Leucaena Leucocephala leaf

Abstract

The release of Rhodamine B dye into water potentially harmful to human health and aquatic species. As the conventional method for the removal of dyes becomes difficult, current research is focused on the adsorption techniques by using various low-cost adsorbents. In this present study, adsorbent obtained from Leucaena leucocephala leaves was employed for the removal of Rhodamine B dye from aqueous solution. Batch adsorption studies were conducted to test the potential of Leucaena leucocephala leaf in contributing to the wastewater treatment, especially in the adsorption of dye. The performance of dye adsorption onto Leducaena leucocephala leaf was depended upon controlling several parameters such as pH (2-10), initial dye concentration (10-50 mg/L), adsorbent dosage (0.02-0.1 g) and contact time (30-150 min). The samples under investigation before and after were analyzed by UV spectrophotometer. The optimum parameters for maximum removal efficiency were found to be at pH 6, 10 mg/L initial dye concentration, 0.08 g adsorbent dosage and 120 min contact time. The value of R2 indicates that the data were better fitted to Langmuir adsorption model and the kinetic data were best represented by the pseudo-second order model. The surface morphology and the functional group of the adsorbent were investigated by using SEM and FTIR, respectively. Results indicated that the adsorption using Leucaena leucocephala leaves has great potential to be a good low cost-effective adsorbent for the removal of Rhodamine B dye from aqueous solution.