SORPTION KINETICS AND ISOTHERM STUDIES OF CATIONIC DYES USING GROUNDNUT (ARACHIS HYPOGAEA) SHELL DERIVED BIOCHAR A LOW-COST ADSORBENT

The removal of a Basic Blue 41 (BB41) and Basic Red 09 (BR09) from an aqueous solution by biochar derived from Arachis hypogaea shell (Groundnut shell) was studied. The sorption of cationic dyes (BB41 and BR09) was studied by varying biochar dosage (1-10 g/L), solution pH (3-10), temperature (30 to 50 degrees C), contact time (0-360 min) and initial dye concentration (25-200 mg/L). At optimum biochar dosages of 2 g/L (BB41) and 1 g/L (BR09), solution pH (8), initial concentration of dye (50 mg/L), and equilibrium time (240 min), groundnut shell derived biochar recorded BB41 and BR09 uptakes of 22.322 and 40.655 mg/g. The kinetic research confirmed that the biosorption rate was quick for groundnut shell-based biochar, and the results were effectively modeled using the Pseudo 's first-order and second-order kinetic models. The sorption isotherm studies exhibited that the Sips model provided better results with high correlation coefficients.