Sorption of indigo carmine by a Fe-zeolitic tuff and carbonaceous material from pyrolyzed sewage sludge

Indigo carmine removal from aqueous solution has been evaluated using Fe-zeolitic tuff and carbonaceous material from pyrolyzed sewage sludge treated with HCl (CM). The adsorbents were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, BET surface area and X-ray diffraction. Sorption kinetics and isotherms were determined and the adsorption behaviors analyzed. Kinetic pseudo-second order and Langmuir–Freundlich models were successfully applied to the experimental results obtained with the Fe-zeolitic material, while kinetic first order and Langmuir–Freundlich models were applied to the results from the carbonaceous materials. This indicates mechanisms of chemisorption and physic sorption, respectively, on the heterogeneous materials. The results indicate that the carbonaceous material from the pyrolysis of sewage sludge (sorption capacity 92.83 mg/g) is a better adsorbent of indigo carmine than the zeolitic material (sorption capacity 32.83 mg/g).