Batch studies of turquoise blue dye (TB) adsorption onto activated carbon prepared from low-cost adsorbents: an ANN approach

Pumpkin peel (Cucurbita pepo L.) and bracts of plantain flower (Musa acuminate) are cellulosic and bio-degradable agricultural wastes available in abundance. This paper is aimed at assessing their potential as adsorbents by modifying into activated carbon for the adsorption of turquoise blue dye (TB). The performance was evaluated by altering the adsorption parameters such as pH, dosage, temperature, and initial dye concentration. The batch adsorption experiments were carried out with a fixed RPM and suitable contact time with different temperature ranges. The adsorbents were characterized using FTIR and SEM techniques. Adsorption isotherm study was also carried out. Adequate samples were withdrawn during the experiments to find out the concentration of dye that is adsorbed using a UV-vis spectrophotometer. From the studies, it is observed that the adsorption efficiency of pumpkin peels (PP) is higher than that of bracts of plantain flower (BP) and found to be promising alternatives for the removal of dye. Adsorption studies were modeled using Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms, and it was well fitted with Langmuir isotherm. ANN result showed that Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm was the best model bearing coefficient of regression (R2 = 0.9968) and mean square error (MSE =0.00013), on the dye removal. These results are very promising and, in our opinion, establish a milestone to a vital research field.