NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE TRANSITION METAL ANTIMONIDES AS ADSORBENT FOR THE REMOVAL OF HAZARDOUS DYES

Abstract

This investigation, for the first time, explore new role of intermetallic nickel antimonide (NiSb) synthesized by polyol approach, as potential adsorbent for the removal of hazardous congo red dye. The synthesized adsorbent particles were primary characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and zeta potential to check purity, texture, stability and point zero charge (PZC). Adsorption process were conducted in batch mode and left out concentrations of solutions were calculated from the absorbance value at maximum wavelength measured from UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Adsorption studies were performed using one-factor-at-a-time method to analyze the effect of initial dye concentration (5-15 mg / L), pH (3-9) and adsorbent dosage (0.3 -0.9 g / L). The modelling result indicated that adsorption process occurred via the monolayer adsorption and followed chemisorption as rate-controlling factor for the dye removal. This study proves transition metal antimonides as potential adsorbent for dye removal and open the new horizons for other intermetallic as efficient adsorbents.