CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS
VOL. 78, 2020
A publication of
The Italian Association
of Chemical Engineering
Online at www.cetjournal.it
Guest Editors: Jeng Shiun Lim, Nor Alafiza Yunus, Jiří Jaromír Klemeš
Copyright © 2020, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.
ISBN 978-88-95608-76-1; ISSN 2283-9216
Adsorption Characteristics of Methylene Blue on PAA-PSBF
Adsorbent
Su Bin Kanga, Zhuo Wanga, Sung Wook Wonb,*
aDepartment of Ocean System Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, 2 Tongyeonghaean-ro, Tongyeong,
Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea.
bDepartment of Marine Environmental Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, 2 Tongyeonghaean-ro, Tongyeong,
Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea.
sungukw@gmail.com
In this study, a polysulfone Escherichia coil biomass composite fiber (PSBF) was prepared by thoroughly
mixing and extruding a mixture of polysulfone and E. coil biomass. poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) was then
crosslinked on the PSBF surface to fabricate PAA-PSBF. The adsorption performance of PAA-PSBF on
Methylene Blue (MB) was evaluated by several batch tests such as pH edge, adsorption kinetics and
adsorption isotherm. Desorption experiments were also conducted to examine the desorption efficiency and
reusability of PAA-PSBF. As a result, it was optimal at pH 7 to remove MB by PAA-PSBF. The result of the
kinetic experiments showed that at least 300 min was required to reach the adsorption equilibrium at the initial
dye concentration of 200 mg/L. The isotherm experiment data were well illustrated by the Langmuir model and
the maximum dye uptake was 225.2 mg/g at pH 7. By using a HCl-acidified solution with pH 2 as an eluent,
the MB adsorbed on the PAA-PSBF was easily desorbed and the depleted PAA-PSBF was successfully
regenerated. In addition, PAA-PSBF can be reused at least 3 times with good reusability.
1. Introduction
Methylene Blue (MB), a cationic dye and a drug, is widely used in industries, such as textile, pharmaceutical,
printing, food, paint and cosmetics, but the usage process generates large amounts of MB-containing
wastewater (Cao et al., 2018). MB is very poisonous, and its molecule is difficult to break down under natural
conditions, hence, its existence in water is harmful to the ecosystem (Rahmi et al., 2019) and human’s health
(Cao et al., 2018). Therefore, it is essential to remove MB molecules from the effluent before discharging into
the water body.
Several methods including microbiological decomposition, photocatalytic degradation, filtration, oxidation and
adsorption have been applied for dye wastewater treatment (Chen et al., 2014). But there are some
drawbacks such as generation of sludge, high investment and low efficiency. On the other hand, the
adsorption process is recognized as a cost effective and high efficiency method (Rafeek et al., 2019). In
recent years, biomaterials have attracted much attention due to their biodegradability, non-toxicity and,
renewability (Deniz et al., 2019). Adsorption by biomaterials is regarded as a promising way to remove
pollutants such as heavy metals, precious metals and dyes from wastewater (Kim et al., 2015). One of the
abundant industrial wastes, E. coli biomass is useful for wastewater treatment. However, E. coli biomass is
available only for one-time use because it is difficult to separate from water (Mao et al., 2013). The
immobilization of E. coli can be a good alternative to avoid this defect, and surface modification methods such
as crosslinking may also help improve the sorption ability of adsorbents. The cell wall of E. coli has the most
representative functional groups such as carboxyl, hydroxyl, amine and phosphate groups. Hence, these
functional groups can be easily modified through a crosslinking method (Mao et al., 2013).
Considering the drawbacks and characteristics of E. coli biomass, the present study has attempted to develop
a new biosorbent with high adsorption capacity and easy regeneration through immobilization and surface
modification. For this study, polysulfone was used to immobilize E. coli biomass and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)
was crosslinked on the surface of immobilized E. coli biomass to enhance adsorption capacity. As a result,
DOI: 10.3303/CET2078035
Paper Received: 15/04/2019; Revised: 15/07/2019; Accepted: 26/10/2019
Please cite this article as: Kang S.B., Wang Z., Won S.W., 2020, Adsorption Characteristics of Methylene Blue on PAA-PSBF Adsorbent,
Chemical Engineering Transactions, 78, 205-210 DOI:10.3303/CET2078035
205
PAA-crosslinked PSBF (PAA-PSBF) was prepared and used in all experiments. The surface morphology of
PAA-PSBF, MB-loaded and MB-desorbed PAA-PSBF was observed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
analysis. The adsorption and desorption properties of PAA-PSBF on the cationic dye Methylene Blue (MB)
were evaluated by various batch experiments.
2. Materials and methods
2.1 Materials
The powder type of E. coli biomass was obtained from L-phenylalanine fermentation industry (Daesang,
Gunsan, Korea). Polysulfone (Molecular weight (Mw) = ~35,000), PAA (Mw = 1,800), and MB (dye content,
≥82%) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Korea Ltd. (Yongin, Korea). N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF, 99.5
%) was obtained from Daejung chemicals & metals co., Ltd. (Siheung, Korea). All the other reagents such as
HCl and NaOH were of analytical grade.
2.2 Preparation of PSBF and PAA-PSBF
To fabricate PSBF, 10 % w/v polysulfone solution was prepared by dissolving 10 g of polysulfone in 100 mL
DMF solution at 40 °C for 6 h. Thereafter, E. coli biomass (10 g) was mixed into the PS solution for 6 h under
room temperature. The well mixed solution was then extruded into deionized water using a nozzle having an
inner diameter of 0.57 mm to form polysulfone-E. coli biomass composite fibers (PSBF) by the phase
inversion process. PSBF was washed several times with distilled water and freeze-dried for 24 h.
The surface of PSBF was modified by coating with PAA using HCl as a catalyst. More specifically, 2 g of
PSBF and 4 g of PAA were mixed at 25 °C for 1 h in 2 L of distilled water. 60 mL of concentrated HCl was
added to the mixture and stirred for 2 h. The final product, PAA-PSBF was cleaned several times with distilled
water to remove any remaining reagents and freeze-dried for 24 h.
2.3 SEM analysis
The surface morphology of PAA-PSBF was characterized at 160x and 2,000x magnifications using SEM
(JSM-6400, Jeol, Japan). Two samples of MB-adsorbed and MB-desorbed adsorbents were also analysed at
the same magnification to observe surface changes of PAA-PSBF after sorption and desorption.
2.4 Adsorption experiments
The MB stock solution of 1,000 mg/L was prepared and diluted for use in all experiments as necessary.
Basically, batch adsorption experiments were carried out by adding 0.02 g of PAA-PSBF and 30 mL MB
solution into a 50 mL conical tube and stirring at 160 rpm and 25 °C. The adsorption performance of PAA-
PSBF on MB was evaluated for three different parameters such as pH (2-7), time (0-720 min) and initial
concentration (0-300 mg/L). The MB concentration of the sample was measured at 660 nm using a
spectrophotometer (X-ma 3000 pc, Human, Korea) after appropriate dilution. The amount of MB adsorbed on
the adsorbent was calculated using the following mass balance in Eq(1):
𝑞 =
𝑉𝑖 𝐶𝑖 − 𝑉𝑓 𝐶𝑓
𝑚
(1)
where Ci and Cf (mg/L) are the initial and final MB concentrations, Vi and Vf (L) are the initial and final volume
of the solution, and m (g) is the dry weight of adsorbent.
2.5 Desorption and reuse experiments
For the desorption experiment, 0.02 g of PAA-PSBF was mixed with 30 mL of MB solution having an initial
concentration of 200 mg/L for 24 h at room temperature. After adsorption, MB-loaded adsorbent was washed
with distilled water. The loaded PAA-PSBF was desorbed by acid solution (pH=2). The continuous adsorption-
desorption experiments were conducted 3 cycles to evaluate the possible reusability of PAA-PSBF. The
released dye concentration was determined at 660 nm by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer and desorption
efficiency was calculated using Eq(2).
𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 (%) =
𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑦𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 (𝑚𝑔)
𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑑𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑦𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 (𝑚𝑔)
× 100 (2)
206
3. Results and discussion
3.1 SEM image of PAA-PSBF
Figure 1a - f show SEM images of free, MB-loaded, and MB-desorbed PAA-PSBF at 160x and 2,000x
magnifications. As shown in Figure 1a, the surface of the PAA-PSBF was rough and partially porous, and its
diameter was about 650 μm. Figure 1b shows the surface change of the PAA-PSBF after MB adsorption. The
surface of the MB-loaded PAA-PSBF was much smoother than that of the free PAA-PSBF and the pores
appeared to be filled with dye molecules. Another significant change was observed that the fiber diameter
increased to 720 μm after MB adsorption, which was 10.8 % increase in diameter compared to the original
form. This indicates that the adsorbent may swell during MB adsorption and dye sorption may occur mainly on
the surface of the adsorbent. On the other hand, the diameter of PAA-PSBF returned to its original shape after
desorption as shown in Figure 1c. This shows that PAA-PSBF was not damaged during the adsorption-
desorption process of MB.
Figure 1: SEM images of (a) free PAA-PSBF, (b) MB-adsorbed PAA-PSBF, (c) MB-desorbed PAA-PSBF at
160x magnifications and (d) free PAA-PSBF, (e) MB-adsorbed PAA-PSBF, (f) MB-desorbed PAA-PSBF at
2,000x magnifications
3.2 Effect of pH
The pH of aqueous solution is known to be one of the main factors affecting the adsorption performance of the
adsorbent. Due to the dye precipitation observed at pH above 7, the effect of pH on MB adsorption by PAA-
PSBF was examined in the pH range of 2 - 7 and the results was given in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 2, MB
adsorption by PAA-PSBF was very sensitive to pH change. The dye uptake increased with increasing pH and
showed the highest dye uptake at pH 7. Therefore, pH 7 was selected as the optimal pH for the following
adsorption experiments.
Figure 2: Effect of pH on MB uptake by PAA-PSBF
Final pH
0 2 4 6 8
M
B
u
p
ta
k
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(
m
g
/g
)
0
50
100
150
200
250
Ci = 200 mg/L
(f) (e) (d)
207
This pH dependency is deeply related to the specific functional groups of the adsorbent. Mao et al. (2013)
reported that “The carboxyl groups in biological polymers have pKa values ranging from 3.5 to 5.0”. The
carboxyl groups are then present in the protonated form of ‒COOH at pH 3 or below, which is not involved in
the adsorption of cationic dye MB. On the other hand, as the pH increases, more carboxyl groups become
carboxylate anions (‒COO‒) rather than protonated forms. Since the carboxylate anions on the adsorbent can
induce the binding with cationic MB, it can lead to more dye uptake with increasing pH.
3.3 Isotherm studies
To examine adsorption isotherms, isotherm experiments were conducted at pH 7 in the MB concentration
range of 0-300 mg/L, and the result is presented in Figure 3. The MB uptake increased in proportion to the
equilibrium concentration at a low dye concentration range. As the dye concentration further increased, the
amount of adsorption gently increased and finally saturated at a certain point. Isotherm experimental data
were also fitted by the Langmuir (Eq(3)) and Freundlich models (Eq(4)).
𝑞𝑒 =
𝑞𝑚𝑎𝑥𝐾𝐿𝐶𝑒
1+𝐾𝐿𝐶𝑒
(3)
𝑞𝑒 = 𝐾𝐹 𝐶𝑒
1 𝑛⁄
(4)
In these equations, qe (mg/g) represents the adsorption capacity of MB at equilibrium, Ce (mg/L) represents
the MB concentration at equilibrium, qmax (mg/g) is the maximum MB uptake, bL (L/mg) is the Langmuir
binding constant, KF (mg/g) is Freundlich constant, and 1/n is related to the adsorption intensity either effective
(0 < 1/n < 1) or cooperative (1/n > 1).
Figure 3: Adsorption isotherm of MB on PAA-PSBF at pH 7
The parameters obtained from two isotherm models were summarized in Table 1. The coefficient of
determination (R2) value of the Langmuir model was 0.982, which was higher than that of the Freundlich
model (0.883), indicating that the Langmuir model is more suitable for describing the experimental data.
According to the Langmuir model, the values of qmax and bL were estimated to be 225.2 mg/g and 0.0688 L/mg.
Compare to previous studies (Zou et al., 2019) in this work the adsorption capacity of PAA-PSBF is higher.
That is, this result shows that PAA-PSBF has a high adsorption capacity and a high affinity for MB molecules.
For the Freundlich model, the value of 1/n was 0.29, which indicated that the MB sorption by PAA-PSBF was
favourable.
Table 1: Parameters of the Langmuir and Freundlich models
Langmuir model Freundlich model
pH qmax (mg/g) bL (L/mg) R2 1/n KF (L/g) R2
7 225.2 0.0688 0.982 0.29 47.54 0.883
Equilibrium MB concentration (mg/L)
0 50 100 150 200 250
M
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Langmuir model
Freundlich model
208
3.4 Kinetic studies
Adsorption kinetic experiments were performed at pH 7 and the initial MB concentration of 200 mg/L to
evaluate the time required for adsorption equilibrium. Figure 4 exhibits the plot of MB uptake versus contact
time for MB adsorption by PAA-PSBF.
Figure 4: Adsorption kinetics of MB on PAA-PSBF at pH 7
The MB amount adsorbed on the adsorbent increased with the increase of the contact time, but after 600 min,
the MB uptake showed a constant value without any significant change. Therefore, it was experimentally
confirmed that the MB adsorption on PAA-PSBF needs at least 600 min to reach adsorption equilibrium under
the experimental conditions of pH 7 and initial dye concentration of 200 mg/L.
The kinetic experimental data were analyzed by the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic
models as described in Eq(5) and (6):
𝑞𝑡 = 𝑞1(1 − 𝑒𝑥𝑝(−𝑘1𝑡)) (5)
𝑞𝑡 =
𝑞2
2𝑘2𝑡
1 + 𝑞2𝑘2𝑡
(6)
where q1 and q2 (mg/g) are the amounts of MB adsorbed at equilibrium, qt (mg/g) is the amount of MB
adsorbed at regular intervals (t), k1 (L/min) and k2 (g/ (mg min)) are the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-
order rate constant. The parameters of two kinetic models are shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Parameters of two kinetic models
Initial MB conc.
(mg/L)
Pseudo-first-order model Pseudo-second-order model
q1 (mg/g) k1 (L/min) R2 q2 (mg/g) k2 (g/mg min) R2
200 193.9 0.017 0.935 212.6 0.0001 0.968
The R2 value of pseudo-second-order model was higher than that of pseudo-first-order model. The MB uptake
at equilibrium, q2 value predicted by the pseudo-second-order model MB uptake was close to the experimental
result (205.0 mg/g). Therefore, the pseudo-second-order model is suitable for fitting kinetic experimental data
on MB adsorption by PAA-PSBF. It also suggests that chemisorption dominates physisorption during the
adsorption process (Chen et al., 2014).
3.5 Desorption and reusability studies
To be a promising adsorbent, the adsorbent has to have good reusability. Thus, desorption and reusability
studies were performed and dye desorption from the adsorbent was carried out using distilled water acidified
to pH 2 (Wang et al., 2011). Adsorption and desorption experiments were conducted continuously for up to 3
cycles and the results are displayed in Figure 5.
Time (min)
0 200 400 600 800
M
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m
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0
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Pseudo-first order model
Pseudo-second order model
Ci = 200 mg/L
209
After 3rd cycle, the adsorption capacity of PAA-PSBF decreased from 218.3 mg/g to 207.0 mg/g by 5.2 %,
while the desorbed dye amount per adsorbent dose was maintained at 197.5±1.0 mg/g. In the 3 cycles, the
desorption efficiencies were 90.16 %, 95.77 %, and 95.70 %. This indicates that PAA-PSBF has good
reusability even after 3 cycles.
Figure 5: Repeated adsorption and desorption cycles
4. Conclusion
In this study, a reusable adsorbent, PAA-PSBF was successfully fabricated. Isotherm and kinetic data were
well fitted by the Langmuir model and the pseudo-second-order model. The maximum MB uptake at pH 7 was
predicted to be 225.2 mg/g by the Langmuir model. According to reusability studies, PAA-PSBF was easily
regenerated using a HCl-acidified solution (pH 2) and can be reused without significant performance
degradation. Therefore, PAA-PSBF has high potential as a promising adsorbent to remove cationic dyes such
as MB in aqueous solution.
Acknowledgments
This work supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea
(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (NRF-2017R1A1A1A05000741) and the
Gyeongsang National University Fund for professors on sabbatical Leave, 2018.
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Cycle number
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