NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON “NEW TRENDS IN

BIOTECHNOLOGY: THEORY AND APPLICATIONS

ADSORPTION OF BASIC DYES ONTO LOW-

COST ADSORBENTS: ANALYSIS OF THE
EQUILIBRIUM STATE

Dr. Abel E. Navarro

Science Department, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
 LEM
Color:

B
Against the natural conception
PRO
of pure water. It hides other
types of pollution.
Prevents the penetration of
sunlight into deep layers of
water – Photosynthesis.
The biological risks have not
been totally discarded
(carcinogenic and toxic effects).
 Use of biological techniques to
remove pollutants from air, soil and
water.
Bioaccumulation: Living

N
IATIO
organism
Biosorption: Dead biomass
D
EME
BIOR
  Use of non-living biomasses to
passively remove pollutants
 Driven by physico-chemical
ON processes
 Algae,
R PTI
crustacean shells,
eggshell, nutshell, fruit peels,
fruit seeds, TEALEAVES.
O

 Fast kinetics (saturation time).

BIOS

 Potential recyclability of waste

 Complex structure, mainly

M
formed by polysaccharides
ANI S have many ways for pollutants
to be taken up:
H
MEC

Metabolism dependent.
Non-metabolism
dependent.
  Competitive performance.

S
AG E  Pollutant selectivity.
ANT

 Cost effectiveness.
ADV

 Pollutant recovery.

 No sludge generation.
 ON
 Eco-friendly filtering

R PTI
technique.
IOSO
 Alternative for using man-
made resins (x10 more
expensive).
OF B

 Potentially used for air and

USES

water.
 TARGET POLLUTANTS

 Basic Blue 99: Naphthoquinoneimine,

cationic dye. Amino and hydroxyl groups
present.

NH
N
Cl
N
N
H3C N CH3

CH3 H3C

Basic Yellow (BY57)

Basic Blue 99 (BB99)
 OUR ADSORBENTS

 Why? High content of functional organic groups

such as alcohol (fiber and carbohydrates),
carboxylic acids and amines (structural
polysaccharides).

 Widespread use of green tea as a hot/cold drink.

Massive collection from green tea industries (i.e.
Arizona and other bottled tea-based drinks).
 RESULTS
Characterization of the Adsorbents by TGA, SEM, FTIR,
SURFACE AND POROSITY

-2

-4

-6
Mass Loss (%)

-8

-10

-12

-14

-16 GT

-18

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

0
Temperature ( C)

FTIR ANALYSIS cm-1

O-H STRETCH 3436
Surface Area (m2/g) 2,735.00
N-H BENDING 1636 Micropore Volume (cm /g)
3
0.692
C=O STRETCH 1656 Total Pore Volume (cm3/g) 1.106

C-O STRETCH 1111

C=O STRETCH 1720
 LT
RESU
S
pH Effect Mass Effect
 Minimize amount of adsorbent.
Ionization of adsorbent’s surface and dye  Higher adsorption promotes formation of
Higher pH promotes higher adsorption. aggregates.

100
95
90
90
80

70 85
% ADSORPTION

% ADSORPTION
60 80

50
75
40
70
30
65
20
BY57 BY57
60
10 BB99 BB99
0 55
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
pH Adsorbent Mass (mg)
 RESULTS
 Isotherms were modeled by Langmuir and
Freundlich theories.

0.20 ISOTHERM MODEL BY57 BB99

BY57
0.18 Langmuir
BB99
0.16
qmax (g/g) 0.06 0.27
Adsorption Capacity (g/g)

0.14

0.12
b (L/g) 63.29 25.82
0.10 R2 0.979 0.988
0.08
 
0.06
Freundlich
0.04

0.02 kF (L/g) 0.23 1.27

0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 n 1.829 1.448
Dye Concentration at Equilibrium (g/L)
R2 0.984 0.978
 LT S
Salinity Effect:

RESU
Decreases adsorption due to
competition for the adsorption
sites.
Higher the charge, the
stronger the effect.
95
90 NaCl
NaCl
90
NaNO3 NaNO3
80
Ca(NO3)2 85 Ca(NO3)2

% BB99 ADSORPTION
% BY57 ADSORPTION

70
80

60 75

70
50
65
40
60
30
55

20 50
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Salt Concentration (mol/L) Salt Concentration (mol/L)

BY57 BB99
 LT
RESU
S
Presence of Heavy Metals
Large and positively charge ions.
Present in residual waters.
100
Cu(II) Cu(II)
80 Pb(II) Pb(II)
% BY57 ADSORPTION

% BB99 ADSORPTION
80

60
60

40
40

20 20

0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50

Heavy Metal Concentration (mg/L) Heavy Metal Concentration (mg/L)

BY57 BB99
  Green Tealeaves have proven to
be promising adsorbents for model
dyes BY57 and BB99.
 TGA, FTIR, surface/porosity and
SEM studies report advantages of

S
SION GT as an alternative adsorbent.
 Langmuir and Freundlich
isotherms modeled the adsorption
C LU

indicating a qmax of 0.06 and

0.27g/g for BY57 and BB99,
respectively.
CO N

 Salinity and heavy metals have a

negative effect on the adsorption
of both dyes, due to competition
for adsorption sites.
Group Members:
Acknowledgements
Michelle Naidoo
Habib Zahir
Rada Kostadinova
Natalia Fernandez
Alvaro Sponza
San Shairzai
Funding:
Grant 001-2012-L’Oreal-CONCYTEC
2013-BMCC Faculty Development Grant
CSTEP, PRISM and LSAMP programs