Enhancing adsorption capacity of clay and application in dye removal from waste water

Natural clay has been considered as a potential absorbent for removing pollutants from water and waste water. Nonetheless, the effective application of clay for water treatment is limited due to small surface area and presence of net negative surface charge, leading to it low adsorption capacity. The absorption capacity was boosted via intercalation of CaO derived from snail shell (SS). The methylene blue sorption potential, PZC, and the surface area of unmodified clay sample were substantially enhanced by the intercalation process. The process of sorption of MB from solution was analyzed using five different isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Harkins-Jura, and Halsey isotherm equations). The value of the Langmuir monolayer sorption capacity qm (mg/g) increased from 50.12 to 88.71, PZC values increased from 4.50 to 7.40, and the surface area (m2/g) value increased from 27 m2/g to 123 m2/g after the intercalation process. The experimental data were fitted into two kinetic models: Lagergren pseudo-first order and the chemisorptions pseudo-second order. It was observed that chemisorptions pseudo-second order kinetic model described the sorption process with high coefficients of determination (r2) better than pseudo first other kinetic models. The modification caused no change in the clay surficial microstructure but increased the lattice spacing of the clay framework.