Application of ZnS-Cu Nanoparticles Loaded on Active Carbon for Removal of Malachite Green Dye and Its Optimomization

Environment contamination through variety of sources poses serious environmental problems due to their persistence and recalcitrance in nature. The presence of dyes in waterways is easily detectable even at very low concentrations. Among the various types of processes for dye removal (physical, chemical, biological methods, electrochemical oxidation and adsorption methods), the adsorption process is one of the most efficient.In this study, ZnS-Cu nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon (AC) applied as adsorbent for the removal of malachite green dye of wastewater. The structure properties of ZnS-Cu nanoparticles, AC and ZnS-Cu-AC were identified by XRD and SEM. Response surface methodology was applied to evaluate for interactive effects of adsorption variable and optimize the adsorption process. The effects of adsorbent dosage, pH value, contact time and initial dye concentration were studied by batch method. The optimal parameter of adsorption process is adsorbent dosage 0.0215g, pH value 6.0, contact time 3.681 min and concentration of 8.482 mg L-1. Isotherm modeling revealed that the Langmuir equation could better describe the adsorption of dye onto the ZnS-Cu as compared to other models. Kinetic data were appropriately fitted with the pseudo-second order adsorption rates for ZnS-Cu–AC.