Valorisation of Waste Mussel Shells as Biosorbent for an Azo Dye Elimination

Abstract

In the present study, the waste shells were used as a new low cost and eco-friendly biosorbant for Orange G anionic dye removal from aqueous solutions. Experiments were conducted in batch mode, and the effect of pH of solution, contact time, and initial dye concentration. X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and ICP-MS analysis for chemical analysis were used to characterize the obtained biosorbent. The results showed that the mussel shells are composed 73% of calcite and 26% of aragonite with some traces of aluminum, magnesium, sodium, silicium and zinc. The biosorption results show that the optimal pH was around 2 for efficient Orange G biosorption. The equilibrium was attained in 60 min. The kinetic analysis showed that the pseudo-second-order model is in good agreement with the experimental data. The biosorption isotherm was well described by Langmuir isotherm model, the maximumbiosorption capacity was 1000mg/g. The thermodynamic study revealed that the biosorption of Orange G onto mussel shell is spontaneous and exothermic.