Evaluation of Microcrystalline Cellulose from Groundnut Shell for the Removal of Crystal Violet and Methylene Blue

摘要

Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), a fine, white, odorless, crystalline powder is extracted from groundnut shell. Purity test carried out on the crystalline powder have shown red coloration which indicated that the prepared MCC is pure. The isolated MCC demonstrated adsorption capacity towards the removal of Crystal Violet (CV) and Methylene Blue (MB) dyes. Equilibrium is gradually achieved within 240 mins for the CV, while for the MB it is achieved within 220 mins with equilibrium adsorption capacity (q_(e)) values of 65 mg/g and 79 mg/g respectively. Increasing the stirring speed from 100 rpm to 400 rpm has little or no influence on the adsorption capacity. 0.5 g of the adsorbent is found to be sufficient for 100% removal for both the CV and MB. Alkaline medium proved to be effective for the adsorption of both CV and MB where a maximum removal of MB is recorded at a pH of 8 while that of CV is recorded at pH 10. Good adsorbent is the one which can be easily regenerated and reused. Groundnut shell MCC shows high adsorption capacity as up to 6 cycles of re-used with percentage removal of 62 and 84 for the CV and MB respectively.