ADSORPTION OF MALACHITE GREEN DYE ON CLAY AND MODIFIED CLAY
The goal of this study was to investigate the possibility of using natural materials based on clay and polysaccharides of carboxymethylcellulose as adsorbents for removing the textile dye malachite green from its solution. In this article, adsorption of dye on native clay and modified clay containing 3% carboxymethylcellulose was compared. The experimental results of dye adsorption with native and modified clay were interpreted using theoretical models of adsorption isotherms. The best match of the experimental results for native clay was achieved with the Langmuir model, and a slightly lower degree of correlation existed for the Freundlich's model. A good matching with the Langmuir's model indicates monolayer dye adsorption as well as certain energy homogeneity of the surface. After modification of the clay with carboxymethylcellulose, a better maching with the Freundlich's model was observed. This indicated that, as a consequence of the application of carboxymethylcellulose, the surface of the clay was changed in chemical and energy terms. The native clay had a lower adsorption capacity compared to clay modified with carboxymethylcellulose. The use of modified clay to remove the dye of malachite green was advisable in very concentrated solutions, because it showed obvious advantages compared to native clay.