Adsorption studies of Rhodamine B and Pb2+ ions using poly (lactic acid)/activated carbon composite beads form prepared by phase inversion method

Abstract

The preparation of porous materials using biodegradable materials has attracted much attention in the field of environmental pollution control. A non-toxic, user-friendly and inexpensive adsorbent bead was prepared from poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and activated carbon (AC) using phase inversion technique. The porous structure of the PLA/AC 5% wt. bead was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), elemental composition (C, H, N, O) analysis, surface area and pore size distribution (BET analysis), fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometry (FT-IR) and point of zero charge measurements (pHpzc). The removal of the Rhodamine B and Pb2+ ions were studied by batch equilibration method. They were found that the adsorption was the best fit by the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The values of maximum adsorption capacity were 149.57 and 202.81 mg g1 for Rhodamine B and Pb2+ ions, respectively. The kinetic adsorption studies of Rhodamine B and Pb2+ ions can be successfully described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The results indicated that the PLA/AC 5% wt. beads will provide an alternative granular adsorbent for the removal of pollutant cationic dyes and heavy metal from wastewater.