Synthesis and characterization of a corncob-based chitosan composite as an economical, ecologically friendly and effective sorbent for adsorption dye from aqueous solution

<p>A variety of materials are being researched to remove the dye molecules that give water its color. An adsorbent is the corn cob, a food waste that is left over after maize is consumed. The adsorbent prepared from corncob powder, an agricultural waste, was used to successfully remove malachite green dye from aqueous solution. Chitosan has emerged as an inexpensive, non-toxic, biodegradable and readily available option for removing dye molecules by adsorption. The functional groups of chitosan, such as hydroxyl and amino groups, are responsible for the adsorption of dyes. Therefore, the objective of this work was to prepare and evaluate a corncob composite based on chitosan as adsorbents using malachite green dye from aqueous solution. The binding of corncob composite based on chitosan was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, TGA, DTA, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. The results showed that the removal efficiency increased with increasing adsorbent dosage and contact time, and was inversely proportional to increasing pH. The maximum removal of malachite green dye proved that the corncob composite based on chitosan as an adsorbent material has the ability to adsorb malachite green dye from aqueous solution. These studies have shown that the sample can be used as an inexpensive alternative when cleaning wastewater to remove the dye.</p> <p>published by the <strong> <a href="https://innspub.net/international-journal-of-biosciences/">International Journal of Biosciences (IJB)</a></strong></p>