Methylene blue removal from aqueous solution by adsorption using empty fruit bunch

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the adsorptive properties of empty fruit bunch (EFB) for the removal of methylene blue (MB) in synthetic wastewater. The untreated (EFB) and hydrochloric acid-treated empty fruit bunches (EFBC) were characterized based on surface functional groups by using FTIR. Adsorption studies were performed by batch experiments. The effect of contact time, initial dye concentration, adsorbent dose and pH were studied. The equilibrium adsorption data were compared using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and fits well with Langmuir adsorption capacity (Qo) was recorded to be 23.5294 mg/g for EFB, while not fits well for EFBC. The kinetic studies were performed by using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic modeling. Adsorption of methylene blue dye for both EFB and EFBC were found to best fitted by the pseudo-second-order model with an R2 value of 0.9987 for EFB and 0.9974 for EFBC. The adsorption capacity of EFB in this study illustrates that it has a potential to remove dyes in the synthetic wastewater.