Synergistic removal of Cu(II) and nitrazine yellow dye using an eco‐friendly chitosan‐montmorillonite hydrogel: Optimization by response surface methodology

A comprehensive feasibility study on adsorption of Cu(II) and a water‐soluble nitrazine yellow (NY) dye by chitosan‐montmorillonite (CS‐MMT) hydrogel as the biosorbent was investigated as a function of biosorbent dosage, initial concentration, pH, temperature, and the presence of salts. Box–Behnken methodology was applied to optimize the adsorption experiments. Maximum adsorption values were determined as 132.74 mg/g and 144.41 mg/g at pH = 5.0, for Cu(II) and NY dye, respectively. Equilibrium isotherms of Langmuir and Freundlich were analyzed by the non‐linear regression model. The equilibrium data were well described by Freundlich model and the adsorption process well fitted pseudo‐second order kinetics. The enthalpy change of adsorption (ΔH°) were calculated as ?3.78 kJ/mol and ?5.75 kJ/mol for Cu(II) and NY dye, respectively, indicating that the adsorption processes were exothermic. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43664.