Desalination 262 (2010) 134–140

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Desalination
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / d e s a l

Fast removal of organic dyes from aqueous solutions by AC/ferrospinel composite

Lunhong Ai ⁎, J. Jiang
Chemical Synthesis and Pollution Control Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, China
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China West Normal University, Shida Road 1#, Nanchong 637002, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this work, a novel activated carbon(AC)/ferrospinel composite adsorbent was prepared by a low-
Received 25 February 2010 temperature refluxing method in the presence of AC suspension. Adsorption characteristics of the as-
Received in revised form 29 May 2010 synthesized composite were examined by using methyl orange (MO) and basic fuchsin (BF) as adsorbates.
Accepted 31 May 2010
Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to investigate kinetics and isotherms of dye adsorption onto
Available online 2 July 2010
the composite. Adsorption equilibrium studies showed that adsorption of MO and BF followed the Langmuir
model. The monolayer adsorption capacities were 95.8 and 101.0 mg g−1 for MO and BF, respectively. The
Keywords:
Composite
adsorption kinetics was best described by the pseudo-second-order model. The results indicated that the as-
Activated carbon synthesized composite could be considered a promising adsorbent for the removal of dyes from aqueous
Adsorption solutions.
Basic fuchsin © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Methyl orange

1. Introduction particles, our group recently synthesized activated carbon(AC)/

Dyes are widely used in industries, such as textiles, printing, pulp
mills, leather, dye synthesis, food, and plastics, etc [1]. Since many
organic dyestuffs are harmful to human being and toxic to
microorganisms, removal of dyestuffs from wastewaters has received
considerable attention over the past decades. Many different
treatment methods, including biological treatment, coagulation/
flocculation, ozone treatment, chemical oxidation, membrane filtra-
tion, ion exchange, photocatalytic degradation and adsorption [2],
have been developed for the removal of dyes from wastewaters to
decrease their impact in environment. Among these methods,
adsorption is a well known separation process and widely used to
remove certain classes of chemical pollutants from waters, especially
those that are practically unaffected by conventional biological
treatments [3]. Activated carbon (AC) offers an attractive option for
the efficient removal of various organic contaminants from waters
due to its high surface area and porous structure [4–6], however, the
use of AC on a large scale is limited by process engineering difficulties,
such as the dispersion of the AC powder and the cost of its
regeneration.
In recent years, magnetic particles have been widely used in the
fields of separations and adsorptions, including ion exchange
separations [7], biological separations [8], and dye removal [9].
Thus, to combine the advantages of carbon materials and magnetic
⁎ Corresponding author. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China West
Normal University, Shida Road 1#, Nanchong 637002, China. Tel.: +86 817 2568081;
fax: +86 817 2224217.
E-mail address: ah_aihong@163.com (L. Ai).
ferrospinel composite as a novel adsorbent having the desirable
adsorptivity and effective magnetic separability [10]. In this work, we
further investigate the adsorption kinetics, isotherms and mechanism
of organic dyes (methyl orange and basic fuchsin) onto AC/ferrospinel
composite in aqueous solutions.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
AC/ferrospinel composite was obtained by a facile refluxing route in
alkaline solution, according to our previous study [10]. All the reagents
were of analytical grade and used as received without further purifica-
tion. Cobalt nitrate [Co(NO3)2·6H2O], ferric nitrate [Fe(NO3)3·9H2O],
sodium hydroxide (NaOH), activated carbon (AC), basic fuchsin (Fig. 1a)
(BF, formula: C20H19N3Cl, molecular weight: 301.38 g mol−1; λmax:
536 nm) and methyl orange (Fig. 1b) (MO, formula: C14H14N3O3SNa,
molecular weight: 327.3 g mol−1; λmax: 460 nm) were purchased from
Chengdu Kelong Chemical Reagent Co. (China).
2.2. Adsorption experiments
For each experimental run, 25 mL of dye of known concentration
and 0.05 g of the as-synthesized composite were taken in a 50-mL
glass pyramic bottle. The mixture solution was agitated in a
thermostated shaker at a constant speed of 200 rpm at ambient
temperature. Samples were withdrawn at appropriate time intervals
and supernatant liquid portions centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 10 min.
The pH values of dye solutions were not adjusted except in

0011-9164/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.desal.2010.05.059
 L. Ai, J. Jiang / Desalination 262 (2010) 134–140 135

Fig. 1. Structure of basic fuchsin (a) and methyl orange (b).

investigating the effect of pH on dye adsorption. A series of dye

solutions of desired pH values were obtained by adding NaOH or HCl
solutions. The equilibrium concentrations of dyes were determined at
460 and 536 nm for MO and BF, respectively, using a UV–vis
spectrophotometer (Shimadzu, UV-2550). The adsorbed amounts of Fig. 2. Effect of solution pH on adsorption of dyes onto the composite (C0: 100 mg L−1;
dye were calculated using the equation: contact time: 30 min).

V The inset in Fig. 3 shows photographs of the adsorption MO and BF

q = ðC0 −Ce Þ ð1Þ
m onto the composite with contact time of 0 min and 5 min, which
indicates the fast decoloration of dyes by the as-synthesized
where C0 and Ce are the initial and equilibrium concentrations of dye composite adsorbent.
(mg L−1), m is the mass of the as-synthesized composite (g), and V is
the volume of solution (L). 3.3. Adsorption kinetics

2.3. Desorption experiments To examine the underlying mechanism of the adsorption process,
three kinetic models including the pseudo-first-order, pseudo-
In order to assess the practical utility of the composite adsorbent, second-order and Elovich models, are used to test experimental data.
desorption experiments were conducted by the process of solvent The pseudo-first-order Lagergren equation is given by [13]
regeneration. Two solvents including deionized water and ethanol
were used for the regeneration of the composite adsorbent after MO k1 t
logðqe −qt Þ = log qe − ð2Þ
and BF adsorption, respectively. For the desorption study, 0.05 g of the 2:303
as-synthesized composite was added to 25 mL of dye solution
where k1 is the pseudo-first-order rate constant (min−1), qe and qt are
(100 mg L−1) and the mixture was shaken at a constant speed of
the amounts of dye adsorbed (mg g−1) at equilibrium and at time t
200 rpm at ambient temperature for 30 min. After centrifugation, the
(min). The pseudo-second-order model can be expressed as [14]
supernatant dye solution was discarded and the adsorbent alone was
separated and ultrasonic stirred with 20 mL of deionized water and t 1 t
alcohol solution for MO and BF, respectively, with the contact time of = + ð3Þ
q1 k2 q2e qe
30 min. The desorbed dye solution was separated by centrifugation
and analyzed by UV–vis spectrometry to determine the amount of the where k2 (g mg−1 min−1) is the rate constant of the pseudo-second-
dye desorption from the composite adsorbent. Desorption efficiency order adsorption.
of dye from the composite was calculated as the ratio of the amount of The Elovich equation is another rate equation based on the
the dye desorbed to amount of the dye adsorbed. adsorption capacity, which is written as follows [15]:

3. Results and discussion q1 = b + aln t ð4Þ

3.1. Effect of pH where a and b are Elovich constants.

The solution pH is an important parameter controlling the

adsorption of dye onto adsorbent. The effect of the initial pH on the
MO and BF adsorption onto the composite is investigated in the range
from 2 to 10 with a initial concentration of 100 mg L−1 and contact
time of 30 min. The results obtained are presented in Fig. 2, which
indicates that there is no significant influence of pH on the adsorption
of dyes onto the composite. Similar observation was reported in the
literature with other adsorbents [11,12].

3.2. Effect of contact time

The effect of contact time on the amount of MO and BF adsorbed

was investigated at the initial concentration of 100 mg L−1. Fig. 3
shows the effect of contact time on the adsorption capacity of MO and
BF onto the composite. The adsorption capacities increase rapidly
during the first 5 min (88 and 96% of the removal rate for MO and BF, Fig. 3. Effect of the contact time on adsorption of dyes onto the composite (C0: 100 mg L−1);
respectively) and then continue to increase at a relatively slow speed the inset shows change in color of BF and MO in the presence of the composite in aqueous
with contact time and reach equilibrium after 30 min for both dyes. solution with different contact times.
136 L. Ai, J. Jiang / Desalination 262 (2010) 134–140
The validity of each kinetic model is checked by the fitness of the
straight lines and depicted in Fig. 4(a–c). The corresponding kinetic
parameters and the correlation coefficients are summarized in
Table 1. The calculated qe value (qe,cal) estimated from pseudo-first-
order kinetic model is different from the experimental data (qe,exp). In
many cases the pseudo-first-order kinetic model does not fit well to
the whole range of contact times and is generally applicable at the
initial stage of the adsorption processes [16,17]. A good correlation
coefficient is obtained for pseudo-second-order kinetic model rather
than other ones, and the qe,cal value agrees very well with the qe,exp
value. These results suggest that the applicability of the pseudo-
second-order kinetic model to describe the adsorption processes of
MO and BF onto the composite is feasible.
3.4. Adsorption mechanisms
From a mechanistic viewpoint, to interpret the experimental data,
it is necessary to identify the steps involved during adsorption. The
intraparticle diffusion model is commonly used technique for
identifying the steps involved during adsorption, described by
external mass transfer (boundary-layer diffusion) and intraparticle
diffusion. The intraparticle diffusion model can be described as [18]
0:5
q1 = ki t +C
where ki is the intraparticle diffusion rate constant (mg g−1 min−0.5),
C is a constant depicting the boundary-layer effects. When intrapar-
ticle diffusion plays a significant role in controlling the kinetics of the
adsorption process, the plots of qt versus t0.5 yield a straight line
passing through the origin.
As shown in Fig. 5(a), the plots clearly exhibit two distinguishable
intercepting lines, which reveal that the adsorption process is
Fig. 4. Adsorption kinetics of dyes onto the composite: (a) pseudo-first-order, (b) pseudo-second-order and (c) Elovich models.
controlled by surface adsorption and intraparticle diffusion, namely,
the initial curved portion of the plots indicates a boundary-layer effect
while the second linear portion is due to intraparticle diffusion.
Because the double nature of intraparticle diffusion plots confirms the
occurrence of both boundary-layer effect and intraparticle diffusion,
the adsorption kinetic data are further analyzed by Boyd kinetic
model [19] to determine the actual rate-controlling step involved in
the dye adsorption process. This model is expressed as
6
F = 1− expð−Bt Þ ð6Þ
π2
where F is the fraction of solute adsorbed at different time t and Bt is a
mathematical function of F and is given by
qt
F= ð7Þ
qe
where qt and qe are the amount of dye adsorbed onto the composite
(mg g−1) at time t and equilibrium. Substitution of Eq. (7) in Eq. (6),
the kinetic expression can be represented as
ð5Þ
Bt = −0:4977− lnð1−FÞ ð8Þ
From Fig. 5(b), it can be observed that the plots are linear but do
not pass through the origin (the R2 of linear fitting for MO and BF are
0.9498 and 0.9853, respectively), implying external mass transport
mainly governs the rate-limiting process of dye adsorption onto the
composite.
 L. Ai, J. Jiang / Desalination 262 (2010) 134–140 137

Table 1
Kinetic parameters for adsorption of dyes onto the composite.

Dye Pseudo-first-order Pseudo-second-order Elovich

qe,exp (mg g−1) k1 (min−1) qe,cal (mg g−1) R2 k2 (g mg−1 min−1) qe,cal (mg g−1) R2 a b R2

BF 49.88 0.067 6.83 0.9816 0.022 50.53 1 2.241 41.167 0.9624

MO 47.31 0.084 7.15 0.9372 0.026 47.94 0.9999 1.886 39.979 0.9531

Fig. 5. Intraparticle diffusion (a) and Boyd (b) model plots for the adsorption of dyes onto the composite.

3.5. Adsorption isotherms
The adsorption isotherms of MO and BF onto the composite are
shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The adsorption capacities increase with the dye
concentrations. This may be attributed to an increase in the driving
force of the concentration gradient with the increase in the initial dye
concentration [20,21].
The adsorption isotherm is fundamental in describing the specific
relation between the concentration of adsorbate and the adsorption
capacity of an adsorbent, and is important for the design of adsorption

Fig. 6. Equilibrium isotherms of the MO adsorption onto the composite. Fig. 7. Equilibrium isotherms of the BF adsorption onto the composite.
138 L. Ai, J. Jiang / Desalination 262 (2010) 134–140

Table 2
Isotherm parameters for adsorption of dyes onto the composite.

Dye Langmuir Freundlich Dubinin–Radushkevich

b (L mg−1) qm (mg g−1) R2 RL Kf (mg g−1) n R2 qD (mmol g−1) β (mol2 kJ−2) R2 E (kJ mol−1)

BF 0.416 101.0 0.9920 0.013–0.042 31.14 2.234 0.9043 2.4029 0.0032 0.9212 12.42
MO 0.145 95.8 0.9926 0.037–0.111 17.93 2.147 0.9431 1.8068 0.0036 0.9555 11.74

system. In this study, Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich
(D–R) isotherms were used to describe the experimental results of the
dye adsorption.
The Langmuir isotherm theory assumes monolayer coverage of
adsorbate over a homogeneous adsorbent surface. A basic assumption
is that adsorption takes place at specific homogeneous sites within the
adsorbent. Once a dye molecule occupies a site, no further adsorption
can take place at that site. The Langmuir isotherm is [22]
favorably adsorbed by the as-synthesized composite. Additionally, the
monolayer adsorption capacities of MO and BF determined from the
Langmuir isotherm are 95.8 and 101.0 mg g−1, respectively.
The equilibrium is also applied to the D–R model, which is more
generally used to distinguish between physical and chemical
adsorption, given by the following equation [25]:
2
lnqe = ln qD −βε ð12Þ

Ce 1 C where qe has the same definitions as in the Langmuir equation

= + e
qe bqm qm
where the constant b is related to the energy of adsorption (L mg−1),
and qm is the Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacity (mg g−1).
The essential characteristics of the Langmuir isotherm can be
expressed in terms of a dimensionless constant separation factor RL
given by [23]
1 definitions as in the above Langmuir and Freundlich equations
RL =
1 + bC0
where C0 (mg L−1) is the initial dye concentration. If the value of RL
lies between 0 and 1, the adsorption is favorable.
The Freundlich isotherm is an empirical equation assuming that
the adsorption process takes place on heterogeneous surfaces and
adsorption capacity is related to the concentration of dye at
equilibrium [24]:
1 E = pffiffiffiffiffiffi
log qe = log Kf + log Ce
n
where Kf (mg g−1) is roughly an indicator of the adsorption capacity
and 1/n is the adsorption intensity.
Figs. 6 and 7 show the experimental data and Langmuir/Freundlich
isotherms for dye adsorption onto the composite. Table 2 lists the
calculated values from Langmuir and Freundlich isothermal adsorp-
tion parameters for the dye adsorption. As shown in Table 2, the dye
adsorption behaviors onto the composite could be better represented
by the Langmuir models in the concentration range studied
(R2 N 0.99). The values of RL lie between 0 and 1, meanwhile, n for
Freundlich isotherm is greater than 1, indicating that both dyes are
ð9Þ
above (mmol g−1), qD is the D-R adsorption capacity (mmol g−1), β
(mol2 kJ−2) is the activity coefficient related to the mean adsorption
energy and ε the Polanyi potential given by


1
ε = RT ln 1 + ð13Þ
Ce
where R is the gas constant (kJ mol−1 K−1), Ce has the same
ð10Þ
(mol L−1) and T is the absolute temperature (K). Thus the plot of ln
qe against ε2 gives a straight line with a slope of β and an intercept of
ln qD (Fig. 8). The constant β can give valuable information about the
mean free energy E (kJ mol−1) of adsorption per molecule of
adsorbate when it is transferred to the surface of the solid from
infinity in the solution and can be calculated using the following
relationship [26]:
1
ð14Þ
ð11Þ 2β
The magnitude of E is useful for estimating the type of adsorption
and if this value is between 8 and 16 kJ mol−1, the adsorption
proceeds by some surface reaction [27]. In this case, the E values for
MO and BF are calculated to be 11.74 and 12.42 kJ mol−1 (Table 2),
respectively, indicating that the adsorption of dye onto the composite
can be explained by surface reaction.
3.6. Comparison of various adsorbents
The removal of BF and MO by different adsorbents has been
studied extensively. Table 3 compares the adsorption capacities of
the as-synthesized composite with different types of adsorbents

Table 3
Comparison of BF and MO adsorption capacities of various adsorbents.

Dye Adsorbents Adsorption capacity References

(mg g−1)

BF AC/ferrospinel composite 101.0 Present work

Bottom ash 6.39 [28]
Deoiled soya 12.03 [28]
®
Jalshakti 11.7 [29]
Industrial sludges 70.4 [30]
MO AC/ferrospinel composite 95.8 Present work
Hypercrosslinked polymeric adsorbent 70.922 [31]
Banana peels 21 [32]
Orange peels 20.5 [32]
Activated Carbon 9.49 [33]
Modified sporopollenin 5.23 [34]
NH+ 3 –MCM-41 366.57 [35]
Fig. 8. D–R model plots for the adsorption of dyes onto the composite.
 L. Ai, J. Jiang / Desalination 262 (2010) 134–140
Fig. 9. The well-dispersed solution before magnetic separation (a) and separation from solution under an external magnetic field (b).
previously used for removal of dyes. Although the adsorption
conditions reported in the different literatures are not the same, the
data listed in Table 3 indicate that the as-synthesized composite in the
present study can be considered a promising adsorbent for the
removal of dyes from aqueous solutions.
3.7. Desorption studies
To evaluate the possibility of regeneration of the as-synthesized
composite, the desorption experiments performed. It is found that
desorption efficiencies for MO and BF are 32% and 57%, respectively.
On the other hand, the composite adsorbent has high magnetic
sensitivity under an external magnetic field (Fig. 9). These results
indicate that the composite can be potentially used as a magnetic
adsorbent to remove dye contaminants from aqueous solution for
avoiding the secondary pollution.
4. Conclusions
In summary, a novel AC/ferrospinel composite was synthesized by
a simple one-step refluxing route and was used as adsorbent for the
removal of methyl orange and basic fuchsin from aqueous solutions.
Different kinds of kinetic models were applied to examine the
adsorption kinetics data. And the adsorption kinetic was best in
accordance with the pseudo-second-order model. Langmuir isotherm
was better to fit the experimental data compared with the Freundlich
model. The monolayer adsorption capacities of the obtained compos-
ite were 95.8 and 101.0 mg g−1 for MO and BF, respectively, which
were much higher than that of many other previously reported
adsorbents. The present work predicted that AC/ferrospinel compos-
ite, as a new kind of adsorbent, may have great potential application in
dye removal from aqueous solution.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by Scientific Research Start-up Founda-
tion of China West Normal University (07B005).
References
[1] E.N. El Qada, S.J. Allen, G.M. Walker, Adsorption of basic dyes from aqueous
solution onto activated carbons, Chem. Eng. J. 135 (2008) 174–184.
[2] J.L. Gong, B. Wang, G.M. Zeng, C.P. Yang, C.G. Niu, Q.Y. Niu, W.J. Zhou, Y. Liang,
Removal of cationic dyes from aqueous solution using magnetic multi-wall carbon
nanotube nanocomposite as adsorbent, J. Hazard. Mater. 164 (2009) 1517–1522.
[3] G. Crini, Kinetic and equilibrium studies on the removal of cationic dyes from
aqueous solution by adsorption onto a cyclodextrin polymer, Dyes Pigments 77
(2008) 415–426.
[4] I. Martyn-Gullon, R. Font, Dynamic pesticide removal with activated carbon fibers,
Water Res. 35 (2001) 516–520.
[5] P. Pendleton, S.H. Wu, Kinetics of dodecanoic acid adsorption from caustic
solution by activated carbon, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 226 (2003) 245–250.
139
[6] I.A. Garner, I.A. Watson-Craik, R. Kirkwood, Dual solute adsorption of 2, 4, 6-
trichlorophenol and N-[2-(2, 4, 6-trichlorophenoxy)propyl]amine onto activated
carbon, J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 76 (2001) 932–940.
[7] M. Sari, S. Akgol, M. Karatas, A. Denizli, Reversible immobilization of catalase by
metal chelate affinity interaction on magnetic beads, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 45
(2006) 3036–3043.
[8] H. Chen, M. Kaminski, X. Liu, M. Torno, A novel human detoxification system
based on nanoscale bioengineering and magnetic separation techniques, Med.
Hypotheses. 68 (2007) 1071–1079.
[9] S. Qu, F. Huang, S. Yu, G. Chen, J. Kong, Magnetic removal of dyes from aqueous
solution using multi-walled carbon nanotubes filled with Fe2O3 particles, J. Hazard.
Mater. 160 (2008) 643–647.
[10] L. Ai, H. Huang, Z. Chen, X. Wei, J. Jiang, Activated carbon/CoFe2O4 composites:
facile synthesis, magnetic performance and their potential application for the
removal of malachite green from water, Chem. Eng. J. 156 (2010) 243–249.
[11] V. Rocher, J.-M. Siaugue, V. Cabuil, A. Bee, Removal of organic dyes by magnetic
alginate beads, Water Res. 42 (2008) 1290–1298.
[12] X. Luo, L. Zhang, High effective adsorption of organic dyes on magnetic cellulose
beads entrapping activated carbon, J. Hazard. Mater. 171 (2009) 340–347.
[13] S. Lagergren, About the theory of so-called adsorption of soluble substances,
Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar 24 (1898) 1–39.
[14] Y.S. Ho, G. McKay, Sorption of dye from aqueous solution by peat, Chem. Eng. J. 70
(1998) 115–124.
[15] S.H. Chien, W.R. Clayton, Application of Elovich equation to the kinetics of
phosphate release and sorption in soils, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 44 (1980) 265–268.
[16] G. McKay, Y.S. Ho, The sorption of lead (II) on peat, Water Res. 33 (1999) 578–584.
[17] B.H. Hameed, H. Hakimi, Utilization of durian (Durio zibethinus Murray) peel as
low cost sorbent for the removal of acid dye from aqueous solutions, Biochem.
Eng. J. 39 (2008) 338–343.
[18] W.J. Weber Jr., J.C. Morris, Kinetics of adsorption on carbon from solution, J. Sanitary
Eng. Div. Am. Soc., Civ. Eng. 89 (1963) 31–60.
[19] G.E. Boyd, A.W. Adamson, L.S. Meyers, The exchange adsorption of ions from
aqueous solutions by organic zeolites: II kinetics, J. Am. Chem. Soc 69 (1947)
2836–2848.
[20] F.W. Shaarani, B.H. Hameed, Batch adsorption of 2,4-dichlorophenol onto activated
carbon derived from agricultural waste, Desalination 255 (2010) 159–164.
[21] B.H. Hameed, A.L. Ahmad, K.N.A. Latiff, Adsorption of basic dye (methylene blue)
onto activated carbon prepared from rattan sawdust, Dyes Pigments 75 (2007)
143–149.
[22] I. Langmuir, The constitution and fundamental properties of solids and liquids, J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 38 (1916) 2221–2295.
[23] T.W. Weber, R.K. Chakravorti, Pore and solid diffusion models for fixed-bed
adsorbers, AIChE J. 20 (1974) 228–238.
[24] H.M.F. Freundlich, Over the adsorption in solution, Z. Phys. Chem. 57 (1906)
385–471.
[25] M.M. Dubinin, L.V. Radushkevich, Equation of the characteristic curve of activated
charcoal, Chem. Zentr. 1 (1947) 875–889.
[26] S.M. Hasany, M.H. Chaudhary, Sorption potential of Hare river sand for the
removal of antimony from acidic aqueous solution, Appl. Radiat. Isot. 47 (1996)
467–471.
[27] U.R. Malik, S.M. Nasany, M.S. Subhani, Sorptive potential of sunflower stern for
Cr(III) ions from aqueous solution and its kinetic and thermodynamic profile,
Talanta 66 (2005) 166–173.
[28] V.K. Gupta, A. Mittal, V. Gajbe, J. Mittal, Adsorption of basic fuchsin using waste
materials—bottom ash and deoiled soya-as adsorbents, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 319
(2008) 30–39.
[29] R. Dhodapkar, N.N. Rao, S.P. Pande, T. Nandy, S. Devotta, Adsorption of cationic
dyes on Jalshakti®, super absorbent polymer and photocatalytic regeneration of
the adsorbent, React. Funct. Polym. 67 (2007) 540–548.
[30] M. Seredych, T.J. Bandosz, Removal of cationic and ionic dyes on industrial-
municipal sludge based composite adsorbents, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 46 (2007)
1786–1793.
[31] J.-H. Huang, K.-L. Huang, S.-Q. Liu, A.-T. Wang, C. Yan, Adsorption of Rhodamine B
and methyl orange on a hypercrosslinked polymeric adsorbent in aqueous
solution, Colloids Surf. A 330 (2008) 55–61.
140 L. Ai, J. Jiang / Desalination 262 (2010) 134–140

[32] K.P. Singh, D. Mohan, S. Sinha, G.S. Tondon, D. Gosh, Color removal from lenin: on the usability of an aminocarboxilic acid functionality bearing solid-
wastewater using low-cost activated carbon derived from agricultural waste stationary phase in column techniques, J. Hazard. Mater. 146 (2007) 186–193.
material, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 42 (2003) 1965–1976. [35] Q. Qin, J. Ma, K. Liu, Adsorption of anionic dyes on ammonium-functionalized
[33] G. Annadurai, R. Juang, D. Lee, Use of cellulose-based wastes for adsorption of dyes MCM-41, J. Hazard. Mater. 162 (2009) 133–139.
from aqueous solutions, J. Hazard. Mater. B92 (2002) 263–274.
[34] A. Ayar, O. Gezici, M. Kucukosmanoglu, Adsorptive removal of methylene blue and
methyl orange from aqueous media by carboxylated diaminoethane sporopol-