Abatement of Textile Dyes Using Surfactant Modified Adsorbent from Agricultural Waste Sawdust

Abstract

The increased adsorption of anionic dyes on agricultural residues, such as sawdust and sawdust treated with cationic surfactant, presents an intriguing occurrence within the realm of surfactant- driven environmental technology. This research investigates into the efficacy of sawdust (SD) and surfactant modified sawdust as adsorbents for the removal of anionic dyes such as acid orange-2 (AO) from aqueous solutions. Surfactant treated sawdust samples were prepared by treating sawdust with cationic surfactant having different length of alkyl group such as tetra ethyl ammonium bromide (TEAB), hexa decyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). The adsorption of acidic dyes demonstrated a substantial improvement following surfactant treatment and also the chain lengths of alkyl group in surfactant have synergistic effect on adsorption process. The pH level was observed to significantly impact the adsorption process, with the optimal pH for acidic dye adsorption falling within the 2-3 range. Adsorption mechanism and useful insights of the process was carried out by applying the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm frameworks. The results suggested that modified sawdust with surfactants has the potential to function as an economical adsorbent in the removal of acid dyes.