Açaí Seeds as a Prospective Biosorbent for Acid Dyes Removal

Abstract

In this study, were used residual Açaí seeds as a biosorbent for two textile dyes (Acid Yellow 219 (AY) and Acid Red 361 (AR)), in single and binary solutions. Further, kinetic and isothermal studies were carried to evaluate if the chemical modifications in the Açaí seeds would promote an increase in biosorption. Kinetic assays for all solutions showed that more than 50 % of the dyes were removed in the first 15 minutes. The acid treatment of the biosorbent increased the removal of acid dyes in solution by 46 % and 32 %, respectively. In conclusion, chemically modified Açaí seeds showed high capacity for the removal of textile dyes in single (AY qe= 1.40 mg g–1; AR qe= 1.76 mg g–1) and multi-component solutions (AY MIX qe = 2.09 mg g–1; AR MIX qe = 2.23 mg g–1). These results demonstrate that Açaí seeds can be applied in an inexpensive strategy for removing pollutants (single or binary solutions) from wastewater.