Utilization of Biochar Produced from Pomegranate Peels for the Effective Adsorption of Dyes in Water

Abstract

In this work, a low-cost and efficient biochar was prepared from pomegranate peels (PP) and used adsorbent for cationic dyes, namely, Crystal Violet (CV) and Methylene Blue (MB). The Biochar (PP-biochar) was characterized using FTIR, XPS, BET, SEM and pHPZC analysis, and the batch experiments were carried out for the both cationic dyes. First of all, the results showed that PP-biochar with CV exhibits highly porous structure (SBET=508.9 m2/g), VT=0.19 cm3/g) with even distribution between micropore (50.8%) and mesopore (49.2 %) volume. The pHPZC value of the prepared biochar was 6.42. In the other side, the adsorption kinetics data were well described by the pseudo-second order and Avrami models. The maximum adsorption capacity of Langmuir (Q0max) for the CV and MB dyes was found to be 201.2 and 320.6 mg/g, respectively (in the single system). The finding suggest that the developed biochar is of promising potential to be applied as eco-friendly material for removing dyes from wastewater