High-performance adsorption of methylene blue using novel bio-adsorbent based on sargassum fusiforme

Large specific surface area obtained by pyrolyzed biomass is considered as a vital factor in improving the dye adsorption performance. However, pyrolysis would cause the inevitable destruction of the surface functional groups of biomass. Herein, a biomass adsorbent based on sargassum fusiforme without pyrolysis was employed for the removal of methylene blue (MB). Combining the FTIR, XPS, SEM, and BET analysis, sargassum fusiforme bio-adsorbent (SFBA) was found to have low specific surface area whereas rich functional groups, including carboxyl, carbonyl and hydroxyl groups. SFBA presented high adsorption performance towards MB with a maximum adsorption capacity of 1154.05 mg/g, demonstrating that the high adsorption performance could be achieved by abundant functional groups rather than large specific surface area. In this paper, various adsorption parameters including pH, concentration, contact time, and temperature have also been discussed. The results indicated that the kinetic and isotherm models of SFBA followed the pseudo-secondary kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm model, respectively. The negative thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. The SFBA enriched with functional groups exhibited high adsorption performance as well as simple fabrication, and abundant sources that could provide a novel alternative for the treatment of dye wastewater.