Super Absorbent Polymers in Environmental Remediation

Laboratory studies reported earlier, have shown very promising results in the selective
removal of dyes from aqueous solutions by a commercially available (super absorbent
polymer) SAP, Jalshakti® (JS). JS is mesoporous in nature and is a potential adsorbent for the
basic dyes studied. This paper presents the adsorption and kinetic studies for the Methylene
blue dye (MB) in a batch mode. The equilibrium adsorption capacity increases from 138.9 to
1428.6 mgg-1 as the initial concentration of MB increases from 100-1000 mg l-1. The
maximum adsorption capacity obtained is 1200 mgg-1 which is more than the adsorbents
reported in literature. The Kf value is 165.3 mg1-(1/n)g-1L1/n. The slope 1/n, ranging between 0
and 1, is indicative of the relative energy distribution on the adsorbent surface (or surface
heterogeneity) The kinetics of the adsorption process suggests that the pseudo second order
model is predominant. The pore diffusion kinetics as described by intraparticle diffusion model
also controls the adsorption process but is not the only rate limiting mechanism.