Methylene Blue Adsorption onto Coconut husks/Polylactide Blended Films: Equilibrium and Kinetic Studies

The removal of cationic methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions by coconut husks/polylactide blended films was studied in a batch system. Experiments were modeled as a function of contact time, initial dye concentration, ionic strength, adsorbent dose, temperature and initial solution pH. Equilibrium data fitted the Langmuir isotherm model (R2>0.9866) with monolayer adsorption capacity qm = 16.34mg/g at 296K. Adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second model (R2>0.9997) hence chemisorption rate limiting step was dominant. The results have shown viability of coconut husks/polylactide blended films for the removal of recalcitrant MB from both domestic and industrial wastewaters. Key words: coconut husks, polylactide, methylene blue, isotherm, kinetic

Equilibrium and Kinetic Studies of Cu(Ii) Removal from Aqueous Solutions Using a Kenyan Micaceous Mineral.

Copper (II) sorption on a Kenyan micaceous mineral (Mica-K) was studied in the batch mode. The effects of different experimental parameters such as; initial concentration, contact time, sorbent dose, pH, particle size, agitation speed, competition and temperature on the kinetics of copper removal were studied. The sorption pattern of copper onto Mica-K followed Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Thermodynamic parameters for copper sorption on Mica-K were also determined. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis of metal ion-equilibrated Mica-K, demonstrated that copper, cadmium and Zinc containing nodules existed on the surface of Mica-K