Efficient adsorption of Malachite Green from water by activated carbon of Date trunk fiber

Abstract: Water remains one of the most important mediums for the survival of Living organisms. However, because of the human activities, it has lost its nature and becomes extremely polluted. Among various pollutants, the synthetic dyes have huge contribution for the contamination of the natural water bodies because of their vast application in food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, textile etc. The presence of such hazardous contaminants causes cancer, kidney failure, dysfunction of brain, infertility etc. Consequently, their removal is indispensable prior to releasing them in natural water resources. Here, low cost adsorbent (activated carbon) was prepared from date palm trunk fiber by using chemical activation using H 3 PO 4 as activating agent. That was utilized for removal of basic cationic dye Malachite Green as a model dye from water by using the Batch adsorption method. The effect of different parameters including adsorbent amount, pH and contact time were studied. The optimum conditions determined were adsorbent dosage 0.5g, contact time 20 minutes and pH5-7. From the result, we conclude that activated carbon of date fiber remains an efficient adsorbent for removal of Malachite Green and may prove the best low cost adsorbent for other dye effluents and wastewater treatment.