Removal of textile basic dye from aqueous solutions using sawdust as bio‐adsorbent

The ability of low cost bio‐adsorbent sawdust to remove basic dye (methylene blue) from aqueous solution is investigated using it in two different forms: in raw form and in chemically treated (with sulphuric acid) form. The effect of contact time, dye concentration, adsorbent dose and the kinetics of adsorption were studied in batch experiments. At neutral pH and 4 gm/l of chemically activated and raw sawdust adsorbents, removal of 98.12% and 97.18% of methylene blue dye (at 100 mg/l concentration) from the aqueous solution, was the best result obtained during study. An average percentage removal difference of less than 5%, between two adsorbents was achieved under different conditions in the experiments. The data fit well in Freundlich isotherm.