Utilization of Hen Feathers for the Adsorption of Indigo Carmine from Simulated Effluents

Abstract

The aim of this study is to exploit the hen feathers as adsorbent for the removal of a hazardous dye, Indigo Carmine from simulated aqueous solutions of the dye. Effects of various experimental parameters like pH of the solution, initial concentration of the dye, amount of adsorbent, temperature and contact time have been investigated using a batch adsorption technique to obtain information on treating simulated effluent of the dye. The sorption data was then correlated with Langmuir, Freundlich and D-R adsorption isotherm models. The kinetics of Indigo Carmine adsorption on hen feathers has also been studied by fitting the data in Lagergren’s first order and Ho-McKay’s pseudo second order kinetics hypothesis. It has been observed that the removal of Indigo Carmine over hen feathers undergoes via first order process and at all the concentration of the dye film diffusion mechanism operates.