Sustainable polymeric adsorbent of chitosan and acid-modified agricultural waste lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) leaf for efficient methylene blue dye removal: sustainable water treatment and biomass valorization
摘要
This study aims to develop a sustainable polymeric adsorbent (referred to as CTS/AWLL-NA) of chitosan and nitric acid (HNO3)-modified agricultural waste lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) leaf for efficient methylene blue (MB) dye removal. The various CTS/AWLL-NA characteristics were characterized using the analytical methods FT-IR, XRD, FESEM-EDX, CHN-O, and BET. The Box-Behnken design (BBD) was adopted to optimize key adsorption factors: A: CTS/AWLL-NA dose (0.02–0.08 g); B: pH (4–10); C: time (10–40 min). The optimal conditions for MB dye removal (99.65%) were established through a desirability function approach, identifying an adsorbent dosage of 0.047 g, a solution pH of ~ 8.5, and a contact time of 37.5 min. Adsorption kinetics adhered to a pseudo-first-order model, while the Freundlich model effectively described equilibrium adsorption. The maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) of CTS/AWLL-NA for MB dye was determined to be 429.08 mg/g. The adsorption mechanism of MB dye onto the CTS/AWLL-NA surface involves multiple processes, including electrostatic forces, Yoshida H-bonding, n-π stacking, and hydrogen bonding. The produced biocomposite displayed outstanding MB dye adsorption effectiveness, which was enhanced by the synergistic interaction of chitosan and acid-modified biomass. This work demonstrates the possibility of using agricultural wastes to create sustainable and cost-effective adsorbents for wastewater treatment applications.