REMOVAL OF METHYLENE BLUE DYE USING COPPER OXIDE/CARBOXYMETHYL CELLULOSE NANOCOMPOSITE: KINETIC, EQUILIBRIUM AND THERMODYNAMIC STUDIES

In this study, copper oxide / Carboxymethyl cellulose (CuO-CMC) nanocomposite was successfully synthesized by the co-precipitation method in presence of NaBH4 as a reducing agent followed by thermal treatment using Muffle furnace at 300oC, which involves the immobilization of copper oxide nanoparticles (Cu NPs) onto Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) structure. Synthesized CuO/CMC nanocomposite was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) as well as Transmission electron microscope (TEM). Crystallography of the synthesized nanocomposite was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) as well. The nanocomposite was applied as an effective adsorbent to remove the organic pollutant such as methylene blue (MB) dye from its solution. Different factors affecting the dye removal such as initial dye concentration (3-15 mg/L), contact time (0-48 h), temperature (298-338 K), adsorbent dosage (2-10 mg), and pH (2-12) were evaluated. The maximum removal efficiency was observed to be (100, 100, 92, 86 %) for the initial concentration of MB (3, 7, 11, 15 mg/L) respectively with an adsorbent dosage (2.5 mg) after 48 hours. The experimental data exhibit that the adsorption behavior of CuO-CMC nanocomposite followed the pseudo 2nd order and the Langmuir isothermal model. Furthermore, the thermodynamics results suggested that the spontaneous nature and endothermic of the adsorption process.