Utilization of Corn Cob Activated Carbon for Adsorptive Removal of MB Dye from Aqueous Solution: Application of RSM approach in Optimization of Removal Process

Abstract

Corn cob activated carbon (CCAC) was prepared and characterized by SEM, BET and FTIR spectroscopic techniques and employed as adsorbent for removal of Methylene blue (MB) dye  from aqueous solution. Response surface methodology (RSM) combine with  three-level, four-variable, Box–Behnken design (BBD) was used to optimize the individual and interactive effect of four different experimentally controlled environmental factors like temperature, initial pH of solution, MB dye concentration and adsorbent dose on removal efficiency. Adequacy of the developed model was evaluated by statistical method. The removal capacity of CCAC for MB dye from aqueous solution predicted by model (166.6 mg g^-1 , MB) was in good agreement with experimental value (166.7 mg g^-1, MB) under the optimum conditions of process variables. The results of the study indicate that CCAC can be used for effective removal of MB dye from water contaminated with MB dye.