Adsorption behaviour of basic dyes on the humic acid immobilized pillared clay

In this work, the adsorption of three basic dyes, namely methylene blue (MB), crystal violet (CV) and rhodamine B (RB) on the humic acid (HA) immobilized pillared clay (PILC) (HA-PILC) was studied. The adsorption capacity of dyes at 30degreesC using HA-PILC was found to be 2.6, 2.0 and 2.3 times greater than that using PILC for the removal of MB, CV and RB, respectively for an initial concentration of 250 mumol dm(-3). The adsorption process was pH dependent. The maximum dye adsorption on HA-PILC was observed at a pH of 5.0-7.0 (removal of 95.2-99.2% for MB, 92.7-97.3% for CV and 83.4-91.0% for RB) with no significant increase in removals beyond a pH of 7.0. The adsorption process could be best described by the Urano and Tachikawa model showing that particle diffusion controlled adsorption. Equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed using the Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson isotherms. Dye adsorption was best described by the Freundlich model. The monolayer adsorption capacities of HA-PILC calculated using the Langmuir isotherm were 608.4, 484.7 and 413.1 mumol g(-1) for MB, CV and RB, respectively. The linear Sheindorf-Rebhun-Sheintuch equation (Multicomponent Freundlich-type), was applied to the isotherm data obtained for each binary-solute combination of MB, CV and RB. The study showed that HA-PILC was an excellent media for the removal of basic dyes from aqueous solutions, based on adsorption kinetics and capacity.