Journal of Taibah University for Science

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Acid-factionalized biomass material for methylene

blue dye removal: a comprehensive adsorption
and mechanism study

Ali H. Jawad , Ahmed Saud Abdulhameed & Mohd Sufri Mastuli

To cite this article: Ali H. Jawad , Ahmed Saud Abdulhameed & Mohd Sufri Mastuli (2020)
Acid-factionalized biomass material for methylene blue dye removal: a comprehensive
adsorption and mechanism study, Journal of Taibah University for Science, 14:1, 305-313, DOI:
10.1080/16583655.2020.1736767

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/16583655.2020.1736767

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa Published online: 10 Mar 2020.

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JOURNAL OF TAIBAH UNIVERSITY FOR SCIENCE
2020, VOL. 14, NO. 1, 305–313
https://doi.org/10.1080/16583655.2020.1736767

Acid-factionalized biomass material for methylene blue dye removal: a

comprehensive adsorption and mechanism study

Ali H. Jawad a , Ahmed Saud Abdulhameed c and Mohd Sufri Mastuli a,b

a Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia; b Centre for Nanomaterials Research, Institute of Science,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia; c Chemistry Department, College of Science, University of Anbar, Ramadi, Iraq

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) shell was chemically treated with sulfuric acid (H2SO4) to produce Received 22 October 2019
acid- factionalized biosorbent for methylene blue (MB) dye removal from aqueous environment. Revised 18 February 2020
Various analytical techniques were utilized to investigate the surface area, surface morphology, Accepted 22 February 2020
crystallinity, elemental composition, and functional group of the sulfuric acid-treated coconut KEYWORDS
shell (SATCS). The adsorption parameters such as adsorbent dosage (0.02–0.20 g), solution pH Coconut shell; sulphuric acid;
(3–10), contact time (0–360 min), and initial MB dye concentration (25–200 mg/L) were studied. chemical activation;
The adsorption results were illustrated by pseudo-second order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm methylene blue dye;
models. It was found that SATCS has a maximum adsorption capacity (qmax ) of 50.6 mg/g at 303 K. adsorption mechanism
The adsorption mechanism of MB dye on the SATCS surface can be assigned to the various types
of interactions such as electrostatic attractions, H-bonding interaction, and π -π interaction. This
work shows SATCS as promising acid- factionalized biosorbent for removal MB dye.

1. Introduction
removal from aqueous environment. Generally, vari-
Textile dyes are frequently utilized in unlimited indus- ous biomass and agricultural wastes are preferred for
trial applications such as textile, printing, paint, food, preparing carbonaceous adsorbents due to its multiple
and cosmetics as a colouring agent [1]. The discharge advantages such as renewability, low-cost precursor,
of dye contaminated water is one of the most impor- and environment friendliness [21]. Biomass materials
tant environmental problems due to its risks on aquatic and agricultural wastes were widely utilized as low-cost
life and human health [2]. Methylene blue (MB) dye biosorbents for the removal of cationic dyes dye such as
is widely used in the textile industry for dyeing cot- Citrus limetta peel waste [22], Cucumis sativus peel waste
ton, wood, and leather, in addition to the pharma- [23], Punica granatum peel [24], sulphuric acid-treated
ceutical industries [3]. MB dye causes harmful effects orange peel [25], fallen leaves [26], Tectona grandis saw-
on human health such as nausea, vomiting, heart rate dust [27], and Luffa aegyptiaca peel [28]. The adsorption
increasing and eye/skin irritation [4,5]. Several meth- capacity and surface property of the adsorbent pre-
ods were applied to remove textile dyes prior to pared from biomass depend on the type of chemical
discharge into water such as adsorption [6], photo- activator, and the source of the precursor, in addition to
catalysis [7], oxidation [8], and coagulation [9]. Adsorp- the activation process [29].
tion is a prime wastewater treatment method for dye Chemical activation of biomass is one the most
removal due to its simplicity of design, non-generation significant methods frequently applied for developing
of toxic materials, low cost and high efficiency [10,11]. oxygenated and hydrophilic carbonaceous adsorbents
Activated carbon is the most common adsorbent uti- that contain different types of functional groups such
lized for the treatment of a wide range of water as carboxyl (-COOH) and hydroxyl (-OH) groups. Sul-
pollutants [12]. However, activated carbon requires a phuric acid (H2 SO4 ) is one of the super-oxidizing agents
high cost for preparation and regeneration. Therefore, that are frequently utilized as a chemical activator for
the researchers shifted towards natural biopolymers, enhancing the surface functionality of biomass materi-
biomass, and waste materials as an economical alterna- als with oxygenated-acidic functional groups [30]. Pre-
tive and environment-friendly adsorbents [13–16]. vious studies indicate that the concentration of the
In recent years, various types of biomass, such as chemical activators is responsible for enhancing the
coconut husk [17], loofah sponge [18], algae [19], and oxygenated-functional group content on the surface
soy waste [20], were utilized for dyes and metal ion of treated biomass [31,32]. Therefore, H2 SO4 acid was

CONTACT Ali H. Jawad [email protected]; [email protected] Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam,
Selangor, Malaysia
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
306 A. H. JAWAD ET AL.

selected to be an oxidizing activator in this research due ASAP 2060 analyser at 77 K. Scanning electron micro-
to its many desirable properties such as super oxida- scope (SEM) (Hitachi, TM3030Plus, Tabletop Micro-
tion power, cost-effectiveness, relatively low activation scope) was utilized to determine the morphological
temperature, and the ability to tune the amorphous characteristics of SATCS before and after the adsorption
domains of cellulosic materials into aromatize form of of MB molecules. The X-Ray diffraction (XRD, X’Pert PRO,
carbon framework [33,34]. PAnalytical) was used to determine the crystallinity of
Therefore, the main aim of this study is to develop SATCS. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
acid-functionalized biosorbent from renewable bio was performed by using Perkin-Elmer, Spectrum RX I
mass waste, namely coconut shell (CS) by the chemi- to identify the available functional group on the sur-
cal treatment method with sulphuric acid (H2SO4) to face of SATCS before and after adsorption. The CHNS
obtain sulphuric acid-treated coconut shell (SATCS) as analysis (Flash 2000, Organic Elemental Analyser) was
a low-cost biosorbent. The effectiveness of the devel- performed to determine the elemental composition of
oped SATCS was tested for the removal of MB dye from SATCS.
the aqueous environment under optimum adsorption
operational parameters such as adsorbent dosage, solu- 2.4. Batch adsorption experiments
tion pH, contact time and MB dye concentration. More-
over, the adsorption mechanism of MB on the surface of The adsorption experiments of MB dye on SATCS were
SATCS was discussed. investigated in a batch mode. The experiments were
carried out in a series of Erlenmeyer flask (250 mL)
containing MB dye solution (100 mL) with different
2. Experimental procedure initial MB dye concentrations (25–200 mg/L). The dif-
2.1. Materials ferent dosages of SATCS (0.02–0.2 g) were added to
the 100 mL of MB dye solution with different levels of
Methylene blue (MB) dye (MW: 319.86 g/mol, assay: pH (3–10), and agitated at a fixed shaking speed of
∼ 99%, λmax = 661 nm) and sulphuric acid (H2 SO4 , 110 strokes/min at 303 K by using a water bath (WNB7-
95–98%) were purchased from R&M Chemicals. The 45, Memmert, Germany). After the adsorption process,
other reagents utilized throughout this study were of the adsorbents was separated from aqueous solutions
analytical grade. All experiments of this research were using a syringe filter (0.20 µm), and the MB dye uptake
performed using ultrapure water. was calculated by UV-Vis spectroscopy (HACH DR 2800)
at 661 nm. Equilibrium isotherms were performed at
optimum conditions (temperature = 303 K, adsorbent
2.2. Preparation of sulphuric acid-treated coconut
dosage = 0.1 g/100 mL, and pH = 8) by using initial
shell (SATCS)
MB concentrations from 25 to 200 mg/L. The MB dye
Coconut shell (CS) was collected from a local market removal (DR%) and adsorbed amount of MB dye at equi-
in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. CS was fully rinsed librium, qe (mg/g) were determined by the following
by using tap water, then by distilled water to eliminate Equations (1) and (2), respectively.
soluble impurities, and then crushed and sieved to a (Co − Ce )
certain mesh size of ≤ 1 mm. The impregnating pro- DR% = × 100 (1)
Co
cess with concentrated sulphuric acid (H2 SO4 , 95– 98%)
(Co − Ce )V
was carried out following the published activation pro- qe = (2)
cedure by Garg et al. [35], with a mixing ratio of 1 g W
coconut shell powder and 1 mL of sulphuric acid. The where Co (mg/L) is the MB initial concentration while Ce
obtained sulphuric acid-treated coconut shell (SATCS) (mg/L) is the equilibrium concentration of MB. V (L) is
was washed many times in boiled and distilled water the volume of MB solution, and W (g) is the weight of
in order to reach a neutral pH value. After that, SATCS SATCS.
powder is left for 24 h for the drying process inside an
oven at 100°C. The final dried powder form of SATCS was 3. Results and discussion
sieved to the desired mesh size of ≤ 0.25 mm for further
applications. 3.1. Characterization
3.1.1. Physicochemical properties of SATCS
The textural properties and elemental analysis of SATCS
2.3. Characterization of SATCS
are recorded in Table 1. It is observed that the SATCS
The characterization of SATCS was performed by var- has a relatively high content of C (51.90) with a high
ious analytical methods and techniques. The point of content of O (44.63%), while the contents of H (2.97%)
zero charge (pHpzc ) for SATCS was determined based on and N (0.37%) are relatively low. This observation can be
the reported method [36]. The porosity and pore vol- attributed to the releasing of volatile compounds dur-
ume of the SATCS was investigated by Micromeritics ing carbonization to eliminate non-carbon species and
 JOURNAL OF TAIBAH UNIVERSITY FOR SCIENCE 307

Table 1. The physicochemical properties of

the SATCS.
Analysis Values
Elemental analysis (wt. %)
C 51.9
H 2.97
N 0.37
S 0.13
O (by difference) 44.6
Surface property
Volume in pores (cm³/g) 0.00018
Total volume in pores (cm³/g) 0.00203
Total area in pores (m²/g) 0.08
BET surface area (m²/g) 1.14
Langmuir surface area (m²/g) 1.65

Figure 2. FTIR spectra of (a) SATCS, and (b) SATCS after MB dye
adsorption.

Figure 1. XRD pattern of SATCS.

enrich carbon. The high oxygen content and detectable Figure 3. pHpzc of SATCS.
amount of sulphur can be attributed to the role of sul-
phuric acid as a chemical activator. However, the low The FTIR spectrum of SATCS after MB dye adsorption is
surface area (1.137 m²/g) of SATCS can be attributed to shown in Figure 2(b). It was observed from Figure 2(b),
a high concentration of H2 SO4 acid which is respon- some bands are shifted to higher wavenumbers, indi-
sible for reducing the pore volume on the surface of cating the interactions between adsorption functional
SATCS [32]. groups of SATCS and MB dye molecules that are loaded
on the surface of the SATCS.
3.1.2. XRD analysis
The crystallinity and amorphous nature of SATCS is 3.1.4. pHPZC analysis
investigated by the XRD analysis. Figure 1 presents the pHPZC analysis was performed to determine the surface
XRD pattern of the SATCS. As can be seen, two broad charge of the SATCS. The value of pHPZC for the SATCS
diffraction peaks display at 2θ = 24° (002) and 2θ = 42° was found to be 3.0, as presented in Figure 3. This result
(100), indicating the SATCS an amorphous structure and indicates the acidic characteristic of the SATCS surface
composed of crystallographic planes of carbonaceous which might be attributed to the existence of some
materials [37,38]. acidic functional groups such as COO− and SO3 − on
the SATCS surface. Generally, the surface of the SATCS
3.1.3. FTIR analysis can be obtained a negative charge at pH value above
The surface functional groups of SATCS are identified the pHpzc, and as a result, the adsorption of cationic
by the FTIR spectral analysis. Figure 2(a) displays the species such as MB dye would be preferable. A sim-
FTIR spectrum of SATCS before MB dye adsorption. It ilar observation was noticed by other researchers for
is observed from Figure 2(a) that characteristic peaks the pHpzc values after various biomass materials treated
show at 3400 and 1700 cm−1 corresponding to the with H2 SO4 such as coconut leaf (pHpzc = 3.2) [14] and
(v-O−H groups) and (v-C = O of RCOOH or RCOOR), mango peel (pHpzc = 4.6) [41].
while peaks at 1610 and 1560 cm−1 attributed to the
asymmetric and symmetric of v–COO [39], respectively. 3.1.5. SEM analysis
The bands at ∼ 1610 and 1200 cm−1 indicate the (v- The surface morphology of SATCS before and after
C = C of aromatic rings) [40] and (v-C–O–C and/or v- MB dye adsorption is observed by the SEM analysis.
C–O of Ar-OH, ROH, and H2 SO4 acid) [14], respectively. Figure 4(a,b) displays the SEM images of the SATCS
308 A. H. JAWAD ET AL.

Figure 4. SEM images of (a) SATCS, and (b) SATCS after MB dye adsorption with a magnification of ×700.

before and after MB dye adsorption, respectively. From

Figure 4(a), it is observed that the surface of the SATCS
appears as a rough, porous surface with visible cracks
and irregular shape pores. The generated pores on the
surface of the SATCS could be ascribed to the evap-
orative loss of the chemical activator during the acti-
vation process. The presence of these pores within
the structure of the SATCS exhibits an essential role
in the adsorption process of MB dye molecules. The
surface of the SATCS after the adsorption of MB dye
(Figure 4(b)) turned to be less porous with the evanes-
cence of crevices on the SATCS surface, indicating suc-
cessful loading of MB dye molecules on the SATCS Figure 5. Influence of SATCS dosage on MB dye removal (V:
100 mL; [MB] = 200 mgL−1 ; solution pH: 5.6, T = 303 K).
surface.

parameters (adsorbent dosage 0.1 g/100 mL, concen-

3.2. Adsorption study
tration 200 mg/L, and temperature 303 K). It is observed
3.2.1. Effect of SATCS dosage from Figure 6, with the increase in solution pH from
The influence of SATCS dosage on the removal of MB 3 to 8 the adsorption capacity, qt (mg/g) rises from
dye by the SATCS was tested by varying the adsor- 76.3 mg/g to 82.3 mg/g. The highest adsorption capac-
bent dosage from 0.02 to 0.2 g with fixed volume and ity of the MB was recorded at solution pH 8, and a grad-
initial concentration of MB dye, solution pH, tempera- ual decrease in adsorption capacity could be noticed
ture, contact time, and shaking speed at 100 mL and at acidic medium. The pHpzc value of the SATCS was
200 mg/L, 5.6, 303 K, 480 min, and 110 strokes/min, found to be 3, as shown in Figure 3, indicating the sur-
respectively. As shown in Figure 5, the removal of face of the SATCS is positively charged. On the other
MB dye increased from 9.3% to 83% with increasing hand, the surface of the SATCS can be converted to neg-
adsorbent dosage from 0.02 g/100 mL to 0.1 g/100 mL. ative charge at basic pH environment, and therefore a
The highest MB dye removal (83%) was obtained at strong electrostatic attraction can occurs between the
0.1 g/100 mL, which can be assigned to higher surface negatively charged functional group on the SATCS sur-
area and/or the adsorption active sites that are available face and positively charged group of MB and [42]. There-
for the adsorption of MB molecules. Further increase in fore, solution pH 8 is determined to be the best solution
adsorbent dosage above 0.1 g did not show any further pH for further applications.
improvement in MB removal. Therefore, 0.1 g/100 mL
was chosen to be an optimum adsorbent dosage for 3.2.3. Effect of initial MB concentration and contact
further investigations. time
The influence of initial MB dye concentration and con-
3.2.2. Effect of solution pH tact time on adsorption equilibrium was investigated.
The effect of initial solution pH on the adsorption capac- The adsorption capacity, qt (mg/g) against time at sev-
ity of MB dye onto the SATCS was performed at differ- eral initial MB dye concentrations of 25, 50, 75, 100 and
ent pH levels (pH 3–10) with fixing others adsorption 200 mg/L is investigated and depicted in Figure 7, while
 JOURNAL OF TAIBAH UNIVERSITY FOR SCIENCE 309

Figure 6. Influence of pH on MB dye uptake using SATCS Figure 8. Non-linear plots of PFO and PSO models for
(V: 100 mL; [MB] = 200 mgL−1 ; SATCS dosage: 0.1 g/100 mL, MB adsorption on the SATCS surface (V = 100 mL, SATCS
T = 303 K). dose = 0.1 g, solution pH 8, shaking speed = 110 strokes/min,
and 303 K).

Table 2. Kinetic parameters for the adsorption of MB by SATCS

at 303 K.
Co (mg/L) 25 50 75 100 200
qe,exp (mg/g) 22.2 30.4 38.3 43.5 78.8
PFO
qe,cal (mg/g) 24.7 29.9 35.6 41.1 70.5
k1 (1/min) × 10−2 7.82 7.77 12.2 12.1 9.71
R2 0.98 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.90
ARE 53.8 48.4 85.5 92.2 105.2
PSO
qe,cal (mg/g) 22.1 31.4 39.3 45.2 78.2
k2 (g/mg min) × 10−3 4.11 3.0 4.2 3.7 1.7
R2 0.98 0.98 0.99 0.99 0.97
ARE 18.5 22.1 26.4 12.2 9.6

Figure 7. Influence of initial MB dye concentration and contact (4) as follows:

time on adsorption of MB by SATCS (V = 100 mL, T = 303 K,
solution pH = 8, SATCS dosage = 0.1 g/100 mL).
qt = qe (1 − exp−k1 t ) (3)
q2e k2 t
the other optimum factors like adsorbent dose = 0.1 g, qt = (4)
1 + qe k2 t
pH of solution = 8, and temperature = 303 K are kept
constant. The results showed that the MB dye uptake where qe (mg/g) is the amount of MB dye adsorbed
on the surface of the SATCS in the first 15 min is very at equilibrium, and qt (mg/g) is the amount of MB dye
high (as shown in Figure 7) in all concentrations and adsorbed at the time (t). k1 (1/min) is the rate constant
reached equilibrium within 60 min. It is observed from of PFO, and k2 (g/mg min) is the rate constant of PSO.
Figure 7, the quantity of MB dye molecules uptake onto The kinetic data are also analysed by the coefficient
the surface of SATCS increased from 22 to 78 mg/g by of determination (R2 ), and non-linear average relative
increasing the initial MB dye concentrations from 25 to error (ARE). The equations of R2 and ARE functions are
200 mg/L. This can be assigned to the higher concentra- presented as follows:
tion gradient which provides a driving force to move the
MB dye molecules towards active adsorption sites [43]. 
n
(qt.meas − qt.cal )2
A similar observation is noticed by other researchers for 2 n=1
the MB adsorption by sulphuric acid-treated coconut R =1− (5)
N
2
leaf [14] and mango peel [41]. (qt.cal − qt.cal )
N=1
n  
100  qt.meas − qt.cal
3.3. Adsorption kinetic ARE = (6)
n qt.meas
i=1
The non-linear pseudo-first-order (PFO) and non-linear
pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetic models are utilized where qt.meas (mg/g) and qt.cal . (mg/g) are measured
to analyse the experimental data of the MB dye adsorp- and calculated adsorption capacities of MB dye at time
tion on the SATCS surface at different initial MB concen- t, while n is the number of observations.
tration. The non-linear equations of the kinetic models The non-linear plots of PFO and PSO models are dis-
PFO [44] and PSO [45] are expressed in Equations (3) and played in Figure 8. The parameters of kinetic models,
310 A. H. JAWAD ET AL.

The non-linear equations of the equilibrium models

Langmuir [47], Freundlich [48], and Temkin [49] are pre-
sented in Equations (7)–(9), respectively.

qmax K a Ce
qe = (7)
1 + Ka Ce
qe = Kf Ce 1/n (8)
RT
qe = ln(KT Ce ) (9)
bT

where qe (mg/g) is the amount of MB dye adsorbed at

equilibrium, Ce (mg/L) is the concentration of MB dye
at equilibrium, qmax (mg/g) is the maximum adsorp-
Figure 9. Isotherm models plots of Langmuir, Freundlich, and tion capacity, and K a (L/mg) is the Langmuir constant.
Tempkin, for the adsorption of MB on the SATCS at 303 K. Kf ((mg/g) (L/mg)1/n ) is the Freundlich constant, n is
the dimensionless constant that indicates the adsorp-
Table 3. Adsorption isotherms for MB on SATCS at 303 K. tion intensity. KT (L/mg) is the Temkin constant, T (K)
is the temperature, R (8.314 J/molK) is the universal
Isotherm Parameters Values
gas constant, and bT (J/mol) is the heat of adsorp-
Langmuir qm (mg/g) 50.6
Ka (L/mg) 91.3 tion. The non-linear curves of the equilibrium models
R2 0.92 are shown in Figure 9. The parameters of equilibrium
Freundlich Kf [(mg/g) (L/mg)1/n ] 36.7
1/n 0.08 models are recorded in Table 3. According to the R2
R2 0.97 values (Table 3) obtained from the isotherm models,
Temkin B 4.7 Freundlich isotherm shows the highest correlation (R2
KT (L/mg) 18.2
R2 0.95 0.97) which indicates the MB dye adsorption occurred
on the heterogeneous surface [50]. The value of 1/n
is less than 1, indicating the strong adsorption bond
R2 and ARE values are recorded in Table 2. Accord- between MB dye molecules onto SATCS [51]. The max-
ing to the experimental data (Table 2), it can be con- imum adsorption capacity (qmax ) of SATCS for MB dye
cluded that the adsorption of MB dye molecules by the is 50.6 mg/g at 303 K. The qmax of SATCS for MB dye is
SATCS adsorbent follows PSO model due to the higher compared with other adsorbents of biomass materials
correlation coefficient (R2 ) values, and the lower ARE treated with H2 SO4 and presented in Table 4 which indi-
values, in addition to the calculated qe (qe,cal ) values fit- cates the desirable adsorption property of the SATCS for
ted well with the experimental qe (qe,exp ) values. This the removal of cationic dye compared to other available
result exhibits that the adsorption of MB dye molecules biomass-based adsorbents.
by the SATCS is the chemisorption process involving
the electrostatic interaction between the negatively
3.5. Adsorption mechanism
charged available on the SATCS surface and the MB dye
cations [46]. There are three functional groups available on the sur-
face SATCS can be involved in the adsorption mecha-
nism of MB dye such as hydroxyl (OH), carboxyl (COOH),
3.4. Adsorption isotherms
and carbonyl (C = O) as confirmed previously by FTIR
Non-linear equilibrium models of Langmuir, Freundlich, spectral analysis. The sulphonation process is respon-
and Temkin are utilized to fit the experimental data. sible for creating SO3 acidic group on the surface of

Table 4. Comparative of adsorption capacities for MB on different biomass materials treated with H2 SO4 .
H2 SO4 -treated biomass Adsorbent dosage (g) pH Temp. (K) qmax (mg/g) Kinetic model References
Coconut shell 0.1 g/100 mL 8 303 50.6 PSO This study
Mango peels 0.14 g/100 mL 5∼6 303 277.8 PSO [41]
Rubber leaf 0.1 g/100 mL 5.6 303 263.2 PSO [55]
Banana peels 0.08 g/100 mL 10 303 250 PFO [56]
Corn cob 0.12 g/100 mL 5.6 303 216.6 PFO [57]
Bagasse 0.4 g/100 mL 9 300–333 49.8–56.5 PSO [58]
Ficus carica 0.5 g/100 mL 8 298–323 47.62 PSO [59]
Parthenium hysterophorus 0.4 g/100 mL 7 298 39.7 – [60]
Delonix regia pods 0.2 g/100 mL 7 298 23.3 – [61]
Wild carrot 0.05 g/100 mL 6 298 21 PSO [62]
Sunflower oil cake 0.2 g/100 mL 6 288–318 16.43 PSO [63]
 JOURNAL OF TAIBAH UNIVERSITY FOR SCIENCE 311

Figure 10. Illustration of the possible interaction between the SATCS and MB: (a) electrostatic attraction, (b) H-bonding interaction,
and (c) π -π interactions.

SATCS, which can play an important role in the adsorp- 4. Conclusion

tion process of MB dye through electrostatic attractions
The sulphuric acid-treated coconut shell (SATCS) was
with the positively charged MB dye molecules. Gener-
synthesized and applied for the removal of MB dye from
ally, the adsorption mechanism of MB dye on the SATCS
the aqueous environment. The optimum conditions of
surface by different types of interactions is shown in
adsorption process parameters were adsorbent dosage
Figure 10. An electrostatic attraction (Figure 10(a)) is
(0.1 g/100 mL), solution pH 8, and temperature (303 K).
considered from the most interaction that can occur
The kinetics and isotherms models data revealed that
between MB dye and the SATCS surface. This mech-
the adsorption was affected by chemisorption and het-
anism involves the electrostatic interaction between
erogeneous mode of adsorption. The adsorption capac-
MB dye cations with negatively charged available on
ity of the SATCS was 50.6 mg/g at 303 K for MB dye. The
the SATCS surface. Adsorption mechanism also includes
adsorption mechanism included electrostatic attrac-
H-bonding interactions (Figure 10(b)) that occurred
tion and H-bonding interaction, and π-π interactions.
between H atom available on the surface of the SATCS,
The adsorption results revealed that the SATCS is a
and N atoms in the MB dye structure. Finally, π-π inter-
feasible and low-cost biosorbent for the removal of
action (Figure 10(c)) can occur between the hexago-
MB dye.
nal skeleton of SATCS and aromatic rings of MB dye.
According to the above discussion, it can be concluded
that these interactions are effective in enhancing the Disclosure statement
adsorption process of MB dye on the surface of the No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
SATCS. Similar results were reported by other stud-
ies for the MB dye adsorption on multi-wall carbon
nanotube [52], chemically treated carbon microspheres Funding
[53], wrapping carbon nanotube [54], and coal activated The authors would like to thank the Universiti Teknologi
carbon [37]. MARA, Institute of Research Management and Innovation
312 A. H. JAWAD ET AL.

(Institut Pengurusan Penyelidikan & Inovasi) for support- [13] Mohammad AT, Abdulhameed AS, Jawad AH. Box-
ing this project under LESTARI grant (600-IRMI 5/3/LESTARI Behnken design to optimize the synthesis of new
(037/2019)). crosslinked chitosan-glyoxal/TiO2 nanocomposite:
Methyl orange adsorption and mechanism studies. Int J
ORCID Biol Macromol. 2019;129:98–109.
[14] Jawad AH, Rashid RA, Ishak MAM, et al. Adsorption of
Ali H. Jawad http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4827-9093 methylene blue onto activated carbon developed from
Ahmed Saud Abdulhameed http://orcid.org/0000-0002- biomass waste by H2 SO4 activation: kinetic, equilib-
6281-5868 rium and thermodynamic studies. Desalin Water Treat.
Mohd Sufri Mastuli http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0409-8987 2016;57:25194–25206.
[15] Jawad AH, Mehdi ZS, Ishak MAM, et al. Large surface
area activated carbon from low-rank coal via microwave-
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