Experimental investigation of methyl-orange removal using eco-friendly cost-effective materials raw fava bean peels and their formulated physical, and chemically activated carbon

Abstract

The discharge of effluents from dye industries into water streams poses a significant environmental and public health risk. In response, eco-friendly adsorbents derived from agricultural waste, such as Fava Bean Peels (R–FBP), have been investigated as potential materials for the removal of such pollutants. In this study, R–FBP and their corresponding physical and chemically activated carbon (P-RFB-AC and C-FBP-AC) were synthesized using H₃PO₄ acid and characterized using FT-IR, and SEM analyses. An optimization process was conducted to determine the optimum conditions for achieving high Methyl Orange (M. Orange) removal efficiencies using the prepared materials, namely R–FBP, P-RFB-AC, and C-FBP-AC. The adsorption mechanism was examined by analyzing the isotherm and kinetics. The results revealed that the physical raw-activated carbon exhibited the highest removal efficiency of 96.8% compared to other materials. This outcome was achieved through the use of ANN combined with Moth Search Algorithm (MSA), which was found to be the most effective model for achieving the highest M. Orange removal efficiency from Physical raw fava bean activated carbon. Under parameters of 1000 mg/l M. Orange concentration, 2 g/l dose, 15 min contact time, and 120 rpm shaking, the best experimental and predicted removal efficiencies for physical-activated carbon fava bean rind were 96.8 RE%, 96.01 indicated RSM RE%, and 95.75 predicted ANN RE%. The highest experimental and predicted removal efficiencies for the H₃PO₄ chemical activated carbon fava bean peel were 94%RE. This study aimed to develop an economical solution for treating industrial wastewater contaminated with anionic M. Orange dye using raw fava bean peel and their generated activated carbon, in both physical and chemical forms. The Temkin and Langmuir isotherm models were found to best fit the data for raw fava bean peel, while Temkin agreed well with the data from physical-activated carbon. Temkin and Freundlich's models were fitted with the H₃PO₄ chemical activated carbon. Pseudo-second-order kinetics was identified as the most suitable model for both physically and chemically activated carbons. Future research may explore the capacity of the produced activated carbon-based algae to extract a wider range of contaminants from contaminated wastewater. In summary, this work contributes to the development of eco-friendly and cost-effective methods for removing dyes, specifically M. Orange, from industrial effluents. By synthesizing and characterizing R–FBP and their relative activated carbon, the adsorption mechanism was studied, and the optimum conditions for achieving high M. Orange removal efficiencies were determined. The results showed that physical raw-activated carbon exhibited the highest removal efficiency, and pseudo-second-order kinetics was the most suitable model for both physically and chemically activated carbon.