Competitive adsorption and optimization of binary mixture of textile dyes: A factorial design analysis

In this paper, a study of simultaneous adsorption of mixture dyes of Basic Blue 41 and Basic Yellow 28 in binary system was done using two types of activated carbon and compared with a single dye system in a batch mode. A competitive adsorption between the two cationic dyes was observed and it was noticed that Basic Blue 41 was favored. Kinetics of each dye in single and binary systems was found to follow pseudo-second-order rate kinetic model, with a good correlation (higher than 0.99). The single component equilibrium data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Overall, the Langmuir isotherm showed a better fitting for all adsorptions under investigation in terms of correlation coefficient. As the binary adsorption is competitive, extended Langmuir models could not predict the binary component isotherm well. The essential parameters which affect the removal efficiency of binary mixture solution such as pH, temperature and adsorbent type were optimized using full factorial design methodology. Effect of parameters and interaction were analyzed using Pareto chart, main effect and interaction effect. In various industrial effluents like textile industries and plant-produced water, dyes are existent in mixture form. So, this work might be of great benefit in knowing to remove the used dyes.