Super and Selective Adsorption of Cationic Dyes onto Carboxylate-Modified Passion Fruit Peel Biosorbent

The carboxylate-functionalized passion fruit peel (PFPCS) was an efficient and rapid biosorbent for wastewater treatment. The PFPCS exhibited excellent selectivity to the cationic dyes, where the maximum adsorption capacities for methylene blue (MB) and methyl violet (MV) were 1,775.76 mg g −1 and 3,756.33 mg g −1 , respectively. And the adsorption process of MB and MV on PFPCS reached equilibrium within 20 min. Moreover, the adsorption conditions and mechanisms were investigated. The adsorption process was in good agreement with the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir isotherm models. The adsorption mechanism was also proposed to be electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bond. After six cycles of desorption-adsorption, the removal efficient of MB and MV could be kept above 95%. Thus, PFPCS was considered as a highly efficient absorbent for removing cationic dyes from polluted water due to excellent adsorption characteristics, low cost and environmental friendliness.