Utilization of Punica granatum peel as an eco-friendly biosorbent for the removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous solution

Abstract

Punica granatum peels (PGP) have successfully been employed as a natural non-conventional low-cost adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solution. Fourier Transform Infra-Red analysis was performed to identify the functional groups present in PGP. Surface morphology of PGP before and after adsorption with MB was studied by analyzing micrograph images of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The equilibrium and kinetic data were analyzed in the light of different available isotherm and kinetic models. It has been observed that the MB removal by PGP obeys the Temkin adsorption model and pseudo-second-order kinetics. The study has also been extended for the desorption studies of MB from PGP adsorbent. The diluted HCl has been observed to be a most efficient desorbing agent.