Application of Cordia trichotoma sawdust as an effective biosorbent for removal of crystal violet from aqueous solution in batch system and fixed-bed column.

In this work, for the first time, Cordia trichotoma sawdust, a residue derived from noble wood processing, was applied as an alternative biosorbent for the removal of crystal violet by discontinuous and continuous biosorption processes. The optimum conditions for biosorption of crystal violet were 7.5 pH and a biosorbent dosage of 0.8 g L. The biosorption kinetics showed that the equilibrium was reached at 120 min, achieving a maximum biosorption capacity of 107 mg g for initial dye concentration of 200 mg L. The Elovich model was the proper model for representing the biosorption kinetics. The isotherm assays showed that the rise of temperature causes an increase in the biosorption capacity of the crystal violet, with a maximum biosorption capacity of 129.77 mg g at 328 K. The Langmuir model was the most proper model for describing the behavior. The sign of ΔG indicates that the process was spontaneous and favorable, whereas the ΔH indicates an endothermic process. The treatment of the colored simulated effluent composed by dyes and salts resulted in 80% of color removal. The application of biosorbent in the fixed-bed system achieved a breakthrough time of 505 min, resulting in 83.35% of color removal. The Thomas and Yoon-Nelson models were able to describe the fixed-bed biosorption behavior. This collection of experimental evidence shows that the Cordia trichotoma sawdust can be applied for the removal of crystal violet and a mixture of other dyes that contain them.