Adsorption of Basic Organic Colorants from an Aqua Binary Mixture by Diatomite

Authors

1 Department of Environmental Research, Institute for Color Science and Technology

2 Faculty of Mining, Petroleum and Geophysics,, Shahrood University of Technology

3 Faculty of Mining, Petroleum and Geophysics, Shahrood University of Technology

4 Faculty of Science, Islamic Azad University, Shahr-e-Ray Branch

5 Department of Polymer Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Tehran South Branch

Abstract

D iatomite is an inexpensive natural mineral. It can be used as an adsorbent to remove organic and inorganic pollutants from the waste waters without further improvement. In this research, the adsorption of two different basic colorants including Basic Yellow 28 (BY28) and Malachite Green (MG) by diatomite has been investigated in an aqua binary mixture and the effects of different parameters has been examined. L27 matrix of Taguchi method was used to optimize the number of experiments. five parameters in three levels (low, medium, and high) were selected. These parameters were colorants concentration (two parameters), pH, time, and adsorbent concentration. Mixing speeds and temperature maintained a fixed value. The responses were the removal percentages of each colorant, separately. The results showed that each colorant concentration affects on the adsorption of other colorant and this process is sensitive to pH. In addition, the effects of adsorbent amount and time were as same as pH.

Keywords