Removal of Dyes from Textile Wastewater Using Sawdust as Low-cost Biosorbent

Abstract

Dyes removal from textile effluents has been a matter of concern, both in health point of view and in the aesthetic sense. A waste material, characterized by ligno cellulose composition, availability and low cost was tested for its ability to remove synthetic dyes from aqueous systems. This study presents the results of the adsorption process of Alizarin Red S (AR) on some adsorbents: white pine sawdust (Pinus durangensis) and beech wood sawdust (Fagus sylvatica). The suitability of the Langmuir, Freundlich and Harkins - Jura adsorption models to the equilibrium data were investigated for each reactive dye - adsorbent system, in order to establish all favourable conditions to uptake of AR reactive dye from aqueous solution. The results of this study indicate that waste of wood is an attractive sorbent for removing synthetic dyes from the wastewater.