Industrialization has become a major source of water contamination, with industries such as textile and pharmaceuticals depositing harmful dyes into water, affecting large portions of marine and plant life.  Recent efforts are focusing on developing new decontamination methods that use natural materials. Humic acids are among the naturally occurring materials capable to removing dyes from contaminated water.  In this study, humic acid samples isolated from peat and leonardite materials, before and after organic solvent extraction were used to remove methylene blue from aqueous solution. Batch sorption experiments were conducted at pH = 3.3, at room temperature, and the concentration of the methylene blue in solution was determined by UV-VIS spectrometry. Data shows significant differences between treated and untreated humic samples, in terms of decontamination capacity and their sorption isotherm mechanisms. These differences cannot be explained solely by the changes in the bulk chemical characteristics of the humic acid upon treatment.  They are attributed to the presence of new sites in the treated humic acid, sites that were previously unavailable to the methylene blue.

Effect of humic acid treatment on the removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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