Synthesis of porous biomass fly ash-based geopolymer spheres for efficient removal of methylene blue from wastewaters

In this article, the use of low-cost adsorbents for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from solution has been reviewed. Adsorption techniques are widely used to remove certain classes of pollutants from waters, especially those which are not easily biodegradable. The removal of MB, as a pollutant, from waste waters of textile, paper, printing and other industries has been addressed by the researchers. Currently, a combination of biological treatment and adsorption on activated carbon is becoming more common for removal of dyes from wastewater. Although commercial activated carbon is a preferred adsorbent for color removal, its widespread use is restricted due to its relatively high cost which led to the researches on alternative non-conventional and low-cost adsorbents. The purpose of this review article is to organize the scattered available information on various aspects on a wide range of potentially low-cost adsorbents for MB removal. These include agricultural wastes, industrial solid wastes, biomass, clays minerals and zeolites. Agricultural waste materials being highly efficient, low cost and renewable source of biomass can be exploited for MB remediation. It is evident from a literature survey of about 185 recently published papers that low-cost adsorbents have demonstrated outstanding removal capabilities for MB. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Distinctive adsorption equilibria and kinetic models are of extensive use in explaining the biosorption of heavy metals, denoting the need to highlight and summarize their essential issues, which is the main purpose of this paper. As a general trend, up until now, most studies on the biosorption of heavy metal ions by miscellaneous biosorbent types have been directed toward the uptake of single metal in preference to multicomponent systems. In particular, Langmuir and Freundlich models are the most common isotherms for correlating biosorption experimental data though other isotherms, which were initially established for gas phase applications, can also be extended onto biosorption system. In kinetic modeling, the pseudo-first and -second order equations are considered as the most celebrated models.