Chemical and physical preparation of activated carbon using raw bagasse pith for cationic dye adsorption

Abstract

Agriculture wastes like sugarcane bagasse are available in large quantities in Egypt. Various adsorbents from natural materials, industrial waste materials, agricultural by-products, and biomass based activated carbon can be used in the removal of various dyes. Raw Bagasse pith (RBP) was used to prepare activated carbon (AC) using phosphoric acid (H3PO4) as a chemical activating agent. C The raw BP and the synthesized adsorbent were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effectiveness of AC prepared in adsorption of methylene blue (MB) has been studied as a function of adsorbent type, initial dye concentration and contact time. The effects of the initial dye concentration and contact time were evaluated. Adsorption isotherm models - Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin were used to simulate the equilibrium data. Langmuir equation was found to have the highest value of R2 compared with other models. Furthermore, it was found that sugarcane bagasse have a high adsorptive capacity towards MB.