Friendly-Natural (Clay-Biochar) Composite for the Removal of Methylene Blue from Aqueous Phase

Developing a new adsorbent, kaolin clay-biochar (KC-BC) composite, to eliminate methylene blue (MB), a highly applied and hazardous dye from wastewater, was the main target of this research work. The composite was prepared by blending kaolin clay(KC) with date seeds(DS) at a mass ratio of 1:1 KC:DS, followed by carbonization at 500 °C for 1h. This composite was characterized by pHpzc, BET-specific surface area, XRD, SEM, and EDX to identify the morphological and chemical characteristics of the composite. The BET-surface area of the composite was 33.10 m2/g, while its mean pore volume amounted to 13.45nm, suggesting its mesoporosity. This composite was implemented in batch adsorption of MB from an aqueous phase. The best removal of MB (99.42 %) by the as-created composite using 0.15 g of the composite at 40 °C for 1h at a pH of 10. The reusability of the exhausted composite was also investigated.