Removal of methylene blue using magnetic Na-bentonite composite in aqueous Solutions

The present work focuses on the development of a new magnetic composite material that would be practical and effective for the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from water. This composite material was chemically prepared from bentonite and iron salts. It was characterized by ATR-FTIR, DRX, SEM and EDS. The adsorption study showed a relatively high adsorption capacity of MB on the composite (86.2 mg/g) and an MB removal efficiency of 100%. In a study of the influence of certain operating parameters, the effect of pH and temperature on MB removal efficiency was found to be negligible. However, the results of the kinetic and thermodynamic study showed that MB adsorption follows the pseudo -second- order and Langmuir model. Of the eluents tested, acetic acid proved to be the most efficient, with an MB desorption efficiency of 90%. The results obtained show that magnetic bentonite is an interesting solution for the removal of dyes in water by adsorption.