Removal of methyl orange by copper sulfide nanoparticles loaded activated carbon: Kinetic and isotherm investigation

This work describes the synthesis of new nanoparticle based adsorbent for the removal of methyl orange (MO) from colored waste water. Copper sulfide nanoparticles were synthesized and impregnated on the commercial activated carbon (CuS-NP-AC) and successfully characterized using UV-Vis spectrophotometer, FESEM, XRD and BET. BET surface area of prepared adsorbent was measured as 1286 m2/g. Effects of various parameters such as pH, initial MO concentration (mg/L), mass of prepared adsorbent dosage (g L− 1) and contact time (min) were studied. The optimization conditions were set as: 4.0 min, 14 mg/L and 25 mg/L for contact time, mass of prepared adsorbent dosage and initial MO concentration, respectively, at pH 5.0. The adsorption equilibrium data were analyzed using different models and Langmuir model represented the equilibrium data well with adsorption capacity of 122 mg/g. Kinetic data revealed that the adsorption of MO dye on the adsorbent surface followed pseudo-second order model.