Removal of Methylene Blue, Methyl Red and Phenolphthalein Dye from Aqueous Solution using Activated Palm Kernel Shell Carbon as an Adsorbent

Abstract

A low-cost adsorbent for the recovery of methyl red, methylene blue and phenolphthalein was investigated using UV detection. Result of the adsorption on activated palm kernel shell carbon indicates a high percentage recovery of methyl red in a 0.1 M acid media with a range of 89.7–97.9 % at a particle size of 10 microns, 90.3-97.74% at a particle size of 20 microns and 89–97.28% at a particle size of 40 microns. At an acidic media of 0.2 M, methyl red had a percentage recovery range of 40–95.6%. For phenolphthalein at 0.1 M acid media, the percentage recovery ranged from 64.25–94.2% while at 0.2 M acid media, the percentage recovery ranged from 50 – 90.1%. The results of this study showed that activated palm kernel shell carbon could be conveniently used for an elevated preferentially percentage recovery of methyl red and phenolphthalein in aqueous media.