Thermodynamic and Isotherm Analysis on the Removal of Malachite Green Dye Using Thespesia Populnea Bark

Activated carbon was synthesized from Thespesia Populnea Bark, a low cost material, by sulphuric acid activation; it was tested for its ability to eliminate malachite green in aqueous solution. The parameters studied included contact time, initial dye concentration, carbon dose, pH and temperature. The adsorption followed first order rate equation. In addition, it was found that the adsorption process was described by Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models. Those models were applied to the equilibrium data. The absorption capacities (Qm) obtained from the Langmuir isotherm plots were 349.20, 365.43, 476.44, and 389.96 mg/g at 30°, 40°, 50°, and 60°C, respectively, at an initial pH 6.0. The temperature variation study showed that the malachite green dye absorption was endothermic and spontaneous with increased randomness at the solid solution interface. The thermodynamic parameters like ∆H°, ∆S°, and ∆G° were calculated from the slope and intercept of the linear plots.