Lignocellulosic Materials as Dye Adsorbents: Adsorption of Methylene Blue and Congo Red on Brewers’ Spent Grain

Abstract

Brewers’ spent grain (BSG), a lignocellulosic waste material, was evaluated as a low-cost adsorbent for the removal of synthetic dyes methylene blue (MB) and Congo red (CR) from aqueous solutions in a batch process. Characterisation of the BSG was performed by chemical analysis, FTIR and SEM. The effects of contact time, initial dye concentration, adsorbent particle size, adsorbent concentration and pH on the adsorption process were investigated. High removal of both dyes ranging from 70 to over 90 % was achieved. It was shown that in both cases (MB and CR adsorption) the process could be interpreted in terms of Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The kinetics of the adsorption process was well described by the pseudo- second-order model. The results indicated the potential use of BSG as a low-cost adsorbent for MB and CR dye removal from aqueous solutions.