Enhanced removal of orange G from aqueous solutions by modified chitosan beads: performance and mechanism

Abstract

Grafting of crosslinked chitosan with monomer, N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, has been carried out to investigate its adsorption capacity toward Orange G (OG) from aqueous solutions. The adsorption performance of modified chitosan (cts(x)-g-PNVP) was examined and compared with that of the unmodified chitosan. The effects of initial pH, contact time and initial dye concentration were investigated in a batch system. The experimental data were correlated with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The maximum adsorption capacity of cts(x)-g-PNVP (63.7 mg g−1) based on Langmuir equation was relatively higher than that of the unmodified chitosan (1.7 mg g−1). The kinetic studies showed that the adsorption process was consistent with the pseudo-second order kinetic model. Interaction mechanisms between OG and cts(x)-g-PNVP were also proposed. The overall results suggested that the prepared cts(x)-g-PNVP stands a good candidate as adsorbent for removal of anionic dye from aqueous solutions.