Azo dye adsorption on ZrO2 and natural organic material doped ZrO2

Natural wastes and inorganic adsorbents are used for the removal of diazo dye Congo red (CR), which causes water pollution and is a carcinogen, from wastewater. Organic waste olive pulp (ZK), inorganic ZrO₂ (Zr) and three different weight percent ZK/Zr (organic/inorganic) binary adsorbent systems prepared by ball-milling method were investigated for the effective removal of CR from wastewater. Characterization of both single and binary adsorbent systems were carried out by ATR/FTIR and SEM. According to the Langmuir isotherm, q_max values for ZK, Zr, 25ZK-75Zr, 50ZK-50Zr and 75ZK-25Zr at 45 °C were 588 mgg^-1, 13 mgg^-1, 46 mgg^-1, 65 mgg^-1 and 84 mgg^-1, respectively. According to Frumkin-Fowler-Guggenheim and Temkin isotherms, the adsorption heat was found to be exothermic for ZK and 75ZK-25Zr at all three temperatures, while it was found to be endothermic for Zr, 25ZK-75Zr and 50ZK-50Zr. It was observed that the ΔG° values calculated from the thermodynamic data were consistent with the values in the Flory-Huggings isotherm. According to the kinetic data, it was observed that all adsorbents except ZK obeyed the pseudo-first-order rate equation. It was shown by error calculations that the experimental data obeyed the Langmuir or Freundlich isotherms better. It was observed that a new and effective organic/inorganic adsorbent system could be obtained by adding ZK to ZrO₂ for the removal of Congo red (CR) from water.