Poly(methacrylic acid)‐modified sugarcane bagasse for enhanced adsorption of cationic dye

Abstract

The preparation of poly(methacrylic acid)-modified sugarcane bagasse (SB) and its application for the removal of the cationic dye malachite green (MG) in aqueous solution in a batch system is described. The modified SB was characterized using SEM and FTIR analysis. The effects of the pH of the solution, contact time and initial dye concentration were studied. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbent for MG increased significantly after the modification as a large number of carboxyl groups were introduced. The equilibrium process was better described by the Langmuir than the Freundlich isotherm. According to the Langmuir equation, the maximum adsorption capacity was 103.2 mg g(-1) for MG. Kinetic studies showed better correlation coefficients for a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, confirming that the adsorption rate was controlled by a chemisorption process.