High selectivity and adsorption proficiency of surfactant-coated selenium nanoparticles for dye removal application

The rate of environmental pollution augmenting at an alarming rate due to the continuous disposal of toxic dyes directly into the environment and water streams. The direct contact of dyes with water resources directly affects the living beings. The identification of superior methods for the treatment of water pollution caused due to effluent dyes needs higher consideration among researchers for the well-being of living flora and fauna. The available methods for controlling the decontamination of water through toxic dyes have various drawbacks. So, it is highly significant to develop such materials which can easily adsorb the dyes without causing any toxic effect on the environment and living beings. While keeping all the facts in mind, the current work highlights the comparative enhancement in adsorption capacity and selectivity of Brij-58-coated selenium nanoparticles (Brij-58@Se NPs) towards the removal of bromophenol blue (BB) dye from series of chosen dyes in aqueous media. The fabricated Se NPs were methodically characterized and the adsorption behaviour displayed fast adsorption efficiency (98% within 6 min) for BB dye out of series of chosen dyes. The optimization studies were carried out to verify the influence of working variables such as pH (2.0–12.0), response time (1–10 min), dosage amount (0.1–80 mg/l) and concentration of BB dye (1–70 ppm). The adsorption process found to be best fitted for Freundlich adsorption isotherm and pseudo first-order kinetic model. The interference studies of different cationic, anionic species including dyes or metal ions suggested the higher efficiency of Brij-58@Se NPs for adsorptive removal of BB dye from aqueous media. The efficacy of the adsorbent was further tested in six different water resources and displayed 95% adsorption efficiency for BB dye in different wastewater samples. Therefore, Brij-58@Se NP is expected as a potential adsorbent for the adsorption of organic dyes from wastewater samples.