Highly Efficient Adsorption of Anionic Dyes from Aqueous Solutions Using Sawdust Modified by Cationic Surfactant of Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide

In the present study, the adsorption behavior of Congo Red (CR) dye from aqueous systems onto sawdust modified by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CH₃(CH₂)₁₅N(CH₃)₃Br (CTAB) was attempted. Adsorption experiments were carried out using both batch and column modes under various operating conditions. The effects of some important parameters such as solution pH, adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration and contact time were investigated. Treatment of the equilibrium data obtained in batch experiments was carried out using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm equations. Based on the isotherm analysis, it was found that the adsorption of CR dye onto SD fits well to the Langmuir model and the adsorption pattern on CTAB modified sawdust (CTAB/SD) followed the Freundlich isotherm which is indicative of heterogeneity of the adsorption sites on the surfactant-modified sawdust. The maximum adsorption capacity of SD and CTAB/SD were found to be 5.2 and 9.1?mg?g^?1, respectively, according to the Langmuir model. However, much higher differences in sorption capacities were observed for CTAB/SD and SD in the column system (66.73?mg?g^?1). In order to find out the possibility of the exhausted column for frequent use, a regeneration study was also carried out. It was found that the dye uploaded column can be easily regenerated with a high performance using ethanol as the washing solution.