Abstract
The effectiveness of thermal and acid modified locally available kaolin clay in Tanzania (Pugu clay), for the removal of cationic dye from water systems were tested. The raw Pugu kaolin (RPK) was thermally treated at 150 °C for 7 h and acid-leached with 0.2 M H2SO4 under reflux for 3 h, to obtain thermally activated Pugu kaolin (TAPK) and acid-activated Pugu kaolin (AAPK), respectively. The raw and modified clays were characterized by XRF, XRD, ATR-FTIR and Porosimeter for their mineralogical compositions, chemical compositions, specific surface areas and pore sizes. A comparative analysis of their respective adsorption efficiencies was carried out using basic blue 9 dye (BB9) as a representative adsorbate. The results revealed that while RPK was mainly composed of 44.18% silica and 26.70% alumina, the modified adsorbents had higher silica content of 46.95% and 58.81%; decreased alumina content of 24.11% and 12.74%, and increased surface areas from 15.36 to 41.07 m2/g and 149.61 m2/g, for TAPK and AAPK, respectively. Batch adsorption analysis indicated that AAPK and TAPK exhibited respective adsorption efficiency of 99.91% and 98.73% against BB9, compared to 96.82% of RPK. The Langmuir and Freundlich models with correlation coefficients close to unity indicated that the surface of the adsorbents were homo–heterogeneous in nature and exhibited mono–multilayer BB9 adsorption. This study has revealed that both raw and modified Pugu kaolin have good adsorption efficiency as ideal adsorbents in removal of cationic dyes from polluted water. Moreover, acid-activation resulted into a more effective adsorbent than thermal treatment.
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The data and supplementary material that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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Acknowledgements
The contributions of the technical staff at the Department of Geosciences, School of Mines and Geosciences, University of Dar es Salaam and the African Minerals and Geosciences Centre, Kunduchi, Dar es Salaam in carrying out the instrumental analyses are highly appreciated
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. LE contributed in conceptualization, methodology, investigation and data curation. HH-K contributed in writing of the original draft and visualization. QAM contributed in conceptualization, methodology and supervision. EHL contributed in conceptualization, methodology, supervision and mentorship.
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Erasto, L., Hellar-Kihampa, H., Mgani, Q.A. et al. Comparative analysis of cationic dye adsorption efficiency of thermally and chemically treated Tanzanian kaolin. Environ Earth Sci 82, 101 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-10782-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-10782-w