The possible mechanism and factors affecting synthetic reactive dye removal by treated flute reed

This study investigated the ability of treated flute-reed to adsorb synthetic reactive dye solution in a batch system. The effects of particle size, contact time and adsorption isotherms at various particle sizes and temperatures were investigated. Desorption was studied to confirm the mechanism of adsorption. The results showed that the adsorption capacity increased as the particle size decreased. The smaller particle size required less contact time to reach equilibrium because it had a higher rate of adsorption. Adsorption isotherms at various particle sizes indicated that the equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir isotherm. The maximum adsorption capacity (q_max) of particle size ranges of: less than 420, 420-1190, 1190-2000 and 2000-2800 μm, was 7.58, 4.42, 3.83 and 3.12 mg/g, respectively. For adsorption isotherms at various temperatures, the amounts of adsorption increased with increasing temperature. This is because the kinetic energy probably increased at higher temperatures resulting in increasing reactive dye removal. The results from the desorption studies confirmed that the adsorption of reactive dye by treated flute-reed was due to ion exchange and the adsorption mechanism was mainly chemical adsorption.