Biosorption of 2,4 dichlorophenol onto Turkish Sweetgum bark in a batch system: equilibrium and kinetic modeling

In this study, Turkish Sweetgum bark was used as a new biosorbent to investigate the removal of hazardous 2,4 dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) from aqueous solutions in batch biosoption experiments. The effective usage of Turkish sweetgum bark is a meaningful work for environmental utilization of agricultural residues. The effects of experimental parameters like solution pH, contact time, initial concentration of adsorbate and amount of bisorbent dosage were investigated in a series of batch studies at 25 o C.  Taguchi’s Orthogonal Array (OA) analysis was used to find the best experimental parameters for the optimum design process in this study. The functional groups and surface properties of biosorbent were characterized by using Fourier transformer infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The experimental data were fitted to Langmuir isotherm and Freundlich isotherm models. There is a good agreement between the parameters and this confirms the monolayer adsorption of 2,4-DCP onto sweetgum bark. As a result of kinetic studies, the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was found to be suitable for all the data. Also, the results of the study show that Turkish Sweetgum bark can be potential as a low-cost alternative commercial adsorbents for removal 2,4 dichlorophenol from aqueous solutions.