Chemical modification of a cellulose-based material to improve its adsorption capacity for anionic dyes

A cellulosic material was modified to enhance its anionic dye adsorption capacity. The chemically modified cucumber peel was characterized by FTIR, SEM, TGA, XRD, proximate and ultimate analyses, and pHzpc measurements, and was used for the removal of toxic textile dyes. The kinetic data followed the pseudo-first-order model. The isotherm data fitted to the Langmuir model giving maximum capacities of 95.24 and 129.87 mg g−1 for Reactive Black 5 and Direct Blue 71, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters suggest that the process is spontaneous and endothermic. The recovery of the adsorbed dyes was achieved by NH3 and NaOH solutions.