Fabrication of date palm kernel biochar-sulfur (DPKB-S) for super adsorption of methylene blue dye from water

Marwa R Elkatory; Murat Yılmaz; Mohamed A Hassaan; Ahmed El Nemr

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-56939-w

Fabrication of date palm kernel biochar-sulfur (DPKB-S) for super adsorption of methylene blue dye from water

Sci Rep. 2024 Mar 21;14(1):6830. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-56939-w.

Authors

Marwa R Elkatory¹, Murat Yılmaz², Mohamed A Hassaan³, Ahmed El Nemr⁴

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Technology and New Materials Research Institute, SRTA-City, 21934, New Borg El-Arab City, Alexandria, Egypt.
² Department of Chemistry and Chemical Processing Technologies, Bahçe Vocational School, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, 80000, Osmaniye, Turkey.
³ National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), Kayet Bey, Elanfoushy, Alexandria, Egypt.
⁴ National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), Kayet Bey, Elanfoushy, Alexandria, Egypt. ahmedmoustafaelnemr@yahoo.com.

Abstract

A novel form of biochar was created by dehydration of Date palm kernel with 85% sulfuric acid. It was examined how the newly produced biochar (DPKB-S) affected the aqueous solution's capacity to extract Methylene Blue (MB) dye. The prepared DPKB-S was categorized by BET, BJH, FT-IR, SEM, EDX, DSC, and TGA analyses. The ideal pH for the MB dye adsorption by DPKB-S is 8. With 0.75 g L^-1 of DPKB-S and an initial concentration of 50 ppm MB dye, Date Palm Kernel Biochar-Sulfur (DPKB-S) had the highest removal percentage of 100%. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to investigate the collected data. Freundlich model is the model that best covers MB dye adsorption in DPKB-S at low concentrations (0.75-1.25 g L^-1) and the Langmuir model at high concentrations (1.5-1.75 g L^-1). The Langmuir model maximum adsorption capacity (Q_m) of the DPKB-S was 1512.30 mg g^-1. Furthermore, a variety of error function models were applied to investigate the isotherm models derived data, including Marquardt's percent standard deviation (MPSD), the sum of absolute errors (EABS), the sum of the errors squared (ERRSQ), root mean square errors (RMS), Chi-square error (X²), the average relative error (ARE), average percent errors (APE), and hybrid error function (HYBRID). Kinetic data were calculated by intraparticle diffusion (IPD), pseudo-second-order (PSO), pseudo-first-order (PFO), and film diffusion (FD) models. A PSO rate model with a strong correlation (R² = 1.00) largely regulated the adsorption rate. The removal mechanism of MB dye by DPKB-S is based on the principle that these positively charged dyes are attracted by electrostatic attraction forces due to the growth in the number of negatively charged regions at basic pH value. According to the results, DPKB-S shows promise as an affordable and competent adsorbent for the adsorption of MB dye. It can be used frequently without experiencing a discernible decrease in adsorption efficiency.

Keywords: Adsorption; Biochar; Date palm kernel; Methylene blue; Sulfur activation.

Grants and funding

SCSE-31235/The Science, Technology and Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) of Egypt