White clover components as an effective biosorbent for the elimination of toxic malachite green from wastewater

Abstract

The present study utilized white clover as a biosorbent for removing malachite green (MG) dye from wastewater. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were employed to investigate the attachment of MG dye to the biosorbent, white clover. The study analyzed the optimal parameters for adsorption, including the effects of initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, pH, duration of exposure, and ionic strength of the salt for white clover. The pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order models were applied to examine the kinetic properties of adsorption, with the pseudo-second-order model providing a more accurate representation of the kinetic behavior. Equilibrium data were evaluated by using the isotherm models Langmuir and Freundlich. The isotherm model proposed by Langmuir fits more correctly than the Freundlich model. The maximum adsorption capacity (q_m) was 8.285 mg/L for MG dye. The highest percent of adsorption was obtained at 93.13%. In this study, malachite green dye was successfully removed from different groundwater samples by using adsorbents. The present experiment and comparison with other known adsorbents demonstrated that white clover is a low-cost and effective biosorbent for removing MG dye from a water solution.