Evaluation and modeling of methyl green adsorption from aqueous solutions using loofah fibers

Loofah fiber, an economical adsorbent material, was first developed for the methyl green (MG) removal from aqueous solutions. The loofah fibers were characterized by SEM, FTIR, N-2-BET and the potentiometric titration. The pH, contact time and temperature were examined extensively. The adsorption of MG on loofah fiber increased very quickly in the pH range 3.0 to 7.0, remaining a high level at pH > 7.0. The kinetics of adsorption of MG on the loofah fiber was proved to coincide with pseudo-second-order kinetic models (r(2)> 0.99) very well. Langmuir isotherm was demonstrated to fit the experimental data better than Freundlich isotherm model. Monolayer adsorption capacity increased with the increase of temperature. Thermodynamic constants were evaluated, and the results indicated that MG adsorption onto loofah fiber was feasible, spontaneous and endothermic. The high removal efficiency of MG on loofah fiber suggested that the loofah fiber was suitable material in MG pollution cleanup.