Modification of bentonite with a cationic surfactant: An adsorption study of textile dye Reactive Blue 19

The utilization of modified bentonite with a cationic surfactant (dodecyltrimethylammonium (DTMA) bromide) as an adsorbent was successfully carried out to remove a synthetic textile dye (Reactive Blue 19 (RB19)) by adsorption, from aqueous solutions. Batch studies were carried out to address various experimental parameters such as pH, contact time and temperature. The surface modification of bentonite with a surfactant was examined using the FTIR spectroscopic technique and elemental analysis. Effective pH for the adsorption of RB19 onto DTMA-bentonite was around 1.5. The Langmuir isotherm model was found to be the best to represent the equilibrium with experimental data. The maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) has been found to be 3.30 × 10−4 mol g−1 or 206.58 mg g−1. The thermodynamic study indicated that the adsorption of RB19 onto DTMA-bentonite was favored with the negative Gibbs free energy values. The pseudo-second-order rate equation was able to provide the best description of adsorption kinetics and the intraparticle diffusion model was also applicable up to 40 min for the adsorption of RB19 onto DTMA-bentonite.