Bentonite-verbena biochar composite for anionic dye removal: Investigation, simulation and modeling

This research investigates the potential of a novel bentonite-verbena biochar composite for the removal of methyl orange from wastewater. Comparative adsorption studies demonstrated that this biocomposite significantly outperforms traditional adsorbents, exhibiting an 83.12 % improvement over raw bentonite. The molecular dynamics simulation revealed the specific mechanism for the enhanced synergistic effect observed between bentonite and biochar in the adsorption of methyl orange. Furthermore, the impact of operational parameters (adsorbent mass, pH, contact time and initial dye concentration) on the adsorption process was systematically evaluated. However, nonlinear modeling indicated that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the DubininRadushkevich isotherm model best described the kinetic and adsorption process. This biocomposite, composed of verbena biochar, shows outstanding adsorption performance for methyl orange, anionic dye, opening up new avenues for the development of innovative and sustainable adsorbent materials derived from bioresources.