Study of the removal of paraquat from aqueous solution by biosorption onto Ayous (Triplochiton schleroxylon) sawdust

This study concerns the batch biosorption of paraquat on Ayous (Triplochiton schleroxylon) sawdust; the study centers on the evolution of biosorption parameters during the process. It appears that paraquat forms a monolayer on the sawdust surface as evidenced by the good correlation between the experimental data and the Langmuir model. The biosorption which is rather fast (the equilibrium was reached after ten minutes) follows a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and does not obey to the intra-particle diffusion model. According to the mathematical kinetic modeling, pore and surface mass transfer well describe the phenomenon. NaCl reduces the adsorption capacity of the material but has no significant effect on the kinetics. Alkaline solutions enhance the accumulation of the pollutant, the reverse being observed for acidic media. According to the thermodynamic data, this biosorption is a spontaneous and exothermic process. From these results we concluded that the adsorption of the pollutant is mainly due to cation exchange as indicated by the adsorption energy determined by the Dubinin-Radushkevich model (E = 12.0736 kJ mol−1); some other interactions resulting from the affinity through organophilic interactions between paraquat and sawdust have also been pointed out. Desorption experiments conducted in HCl and HNO3 solutions confirmed the proposed mechanism.