Experimental study and modelling of an azo colourant dynamic adsorption onto functional cross-linked chitosan/ceramic particles in a fixed bed column

The use of azo dyes in industrial activities generates a large volume of contaminated wastewater; these pollutants in water bodies affect aquatic biota and human health. A functional biocomposite sorbent material was synthesized using cross-linked chitosan with oxalic acid that forms a coating on alumina ceramic particles (AOCh). The removal of Reactive Red 195, a reactive azo dye, using a fixed-bed adsorption column filled with this material was tested. AOCh was physico-chemically characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy–total attenuated reflection (FTIR-ATR), scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersion spectrometry X-ray (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XDR), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Z-potential. The dynamic adsorption performance was analyzed from experimental breakthrough curves obtained in fixed-bed columns by modifying different operating conditions (bed depth, volumetric flow rate, and dye inlet concentration). Equilibrium adsorption isotherms were determined under dynamic conditions and compared with batch results. The maximum adsorption capacity of the dynamic equilibrium isotherm obtained from the continuous assays was 331 mg/g; this value was the highest in comparison to other tested materials reported in the literature. Different dynamic adsorption models were applied to fit experimental data, including Thomas, Bohart–Admas, Yoon–Nelson, logistic general model, bed depth surface time (BDST), and modified dose response (Yan) models. A critical analysis of these equations was presented, showing the equivalences and the relationship among the coefficients. The Yan model achieved the highest level of agreement between the experimental and predicted values of the breakthrough curves. The use of this model enables scaling-up the industrial process for dye removal. The present work proposed a novel biosorbent material and contributes to the analysis of industrial dye removal under dynamic conditions.