Evaluation of Adsorption Characteristics of Malachite Green onto Almond Shell (Prunus dulcis)

Abstract

The potential usage of almond shell (P. dulcis), which is an agricultural waste product, in the removal of malachite green from aqueous solutions was evaluated with respect to various experimental parameters including contact time, initial malachite green concentration, temperature, adsorbent concentration, etc. The adsorption kinetics of malachite green fitted well the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The monolayer adsorption capacity of almond shell was found to be 29.0mg g-1. The adsorption of malachite green onto almond shell increased with raising the temperature. From the experimental results, almond shell could be employed as a low cost and easily available adsorbent for removal of malachite green in wastewater treatment process.