Removal kinetics and mechanism for crystal violet uptake by surfactant-modified alumina

Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), an anionic surfactant (AS) was used for the surface modification of neutral alumina. Micelle-like structures are formed on the surface of alumina, which was used for the removal of crystal violet (CV), a well-known cationic dye from aquatic environment. This process is called adsolubilization. The surfactant-modified alumina (SMA) was found to be very efficient showing >99% CV removal from a 200 ppm CV bearing solution with only 6 g/L of adsorbent dose. The kinetic studies showed that 60 minutes' shaking time was sufficient to achieve the equilibrium. The reaction kinetics data were analysed using four reaction kinetic models, viz., first-order reaction model, pseudo-first-order reaction model, second-order reaction model and pseudo-second-order reaction model, and it was found that the removal of CV followed the pseudo-second order reaction model. It was found that neither film diffusion nor pore diffusion was rate limiting for this process. Isotherm studies showed that Langmuir isotherm fitted more accurately compared to Freundlich isotherm. To test whether the removal of CV was possible from real water using SMA, the experiments were conducted using CV spiked distilled water and synthetic wastewater. It was interesting to note that the removal efficiency was better for wastewater as compared to that of distilled water.