Equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies of the biosorption of textile dye (Reactive Red 195) onto Pinus sylvestris L.

This study investigated the biosorption of Reactive Red 195 (RR 195), an azo dye, from aqueous solution by using cone biomass of Pinus sylvestris Linneo. To this end, pH, initial dye concentration, biomass dosage and contact time were studied in a batch biosorption system. Maximum pH for efficient RR 195 biosorption was found to be 1.0 and the initial RR 195 concentration increased with decreasing percentage removal. Biosorption capacity increased from 6.69 mg/g at 20 °C to 7.38 mg/g at 50 °C for 200 mg/L dye concentration. Kinetics of the interactions was tested by pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetics, the Elovich equation and intraparticle diffusion mechanism. Pseudo-second-order kinetic model provided a better correlation for the experimental data studied in comparison to the pseudo-first-order kinetic model and intraparticle diffusion mechanism. Moreover, the Elovich equation also showed a good fit to the experimental data. Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms were used for the mathematical description of the biosorption equilibrium data. The activation energy of biosorption (Ea) was found to be 8.904 kJ/mol by using the Arrhenius equation. Using the thermodynamic equilibrium coefficients obtained at different temperatures, the study also evaluated the thermodynamic constants of biosorption (ΔGo, ΔHo and ΔS). The results indicate that cone biomass can be used as an effective and low-cost biosorbent to remove reactive dyes from aqueous solution.