Abstract

The beetroot fibers were used to decontaminate water polluted by methylene blue dye (MB), to remove heavy metals from wastewater and to soften hard water. In order to improve the adsorbent performance and to determine the optimum conditions of industrial wastewater cleaning, the effect of fiber particle sizes, initial concentrations of pollutants, pH of aqueous solutions and effluent rates on the cleaning procedure were investigated. Data showed that the efficiency of cleaning increased when fiber particle size decreased (from mm to µm scale). Optimum pH value for adsorption was 6 to 6.5. Maximum metal cations retention or hardness of modified fibers by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was estimated at 70 mg per gram of fiber; while the maximum retention of methylene blue was found to be 300 mg of dye per gram of fiber. Chemical modification of fibers by an anionic surfactant such as sodium dodecyl sulfate increased the efficiency of the dye elimination by 2-fold when compared to unmodified fibers. The adsorption parameters were determined using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms.

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