Study of congo red adsorption on the polyaniline and polypyrrole

Abstract

Polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole (PPY) were synthesized via in situ chemical oxidative polymerization and are used as adsorbents for removal of Congo Red (CR) dye from aqueous solution. The effects of various experimental parameters including pH of the solution, contact time, initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, and temperature on adsorption of CR by PANI and PPY were systematically investigated. The experimental results showed that the adsorption efficiency was increased with contact time and adsorbent dosage. The maximum removal efficiency was found after 45 minutes of solid/liquid contact with adsorbent doses of 0.4 and 1.73 g/L for PANI and PPY, respectively. The kinetic data were best fitted by the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption equilibrium results were well fitted by the Langmuir isotherm model. These results suggest that the PANI and PPY can be used as alternative adsorbents for the treatment of wastewaters containing dyes.