Green Almond Peels a Promising Biosorbent for Cationic Dyes Removal – Characterization, Effect of Process Parameters and Kinetic Modeling

In the present work, almond peels (AP), an inexpensive and widely available cellulosic material in Algeria, have been utilized as an effective natural adsorbent to eliminate methylene blue from water-based solutions. SEM and FTIR analysis were employed to qualify the adsorbent. The effect of particle size, pH of solution, agitating rate and adsorbent dose were optimized to measure the almond peels capacity of adsorption. The pseudo-first and second-orders, Elovich, and intra-particle diffusion models were employed for analyzing adsorption kinetics. Equilibrium adsorption was examined through Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherms. The sorption mechanism was most clearly outlined by the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm equations. Our experimental findings indicate that the efficacy of employing these porous adsorbents stems not only from their effective performance attributed to their compositional and structural properties but also from their easy separation from solutions owing to their macroscopic dimensions.