Efficient Removal of Methylene Blue Dye from Aqueous Solution Using a New Biosorbent Derived from Enset (Ensete Ventricosum)

Abstract In this study, kocho powder, a possible low-cost biosorbent for the efficient removal of MB dye from wastewater is prepared from pseudostem and corm of Enset (Ensete ventricosum). Characteristics of kocho powder were examined by using SEM, TGA, XRD and FTIR to study the surface morphology, functional group and other physico-chemical properties of this newly developed biosorbent. Biosorption experiments were carried out in batch mode to investigate the effects of dosage (0.025–0.2g), pH (2–10), initial concentration of MB (10 to 100 mg/L) and contact time (10 to 120 min).The highest removal efficiency of methylene blue dye (94.2%) was recorded at optimum experimental conditions of biosorbent dosage 0.1g, MB concentration 50 mgL− 1, pH 8, contact time 50min and agitation rate of 200rpm at room. Following the removal study, it was determined that the pseudo-second order kinetics (R2 = 0.997) and Langmuir isothermal (R2 = 0.996) models may well describe the MB dye biosorption process. Furthermore, this newly developed biosorbent was fairly recyclable up to five cycles without significant loss of re-adsorption efficiency (around 9.6% loss) between 1st and 5th cycle. Thus, the findings of this study revealed that a new kocho biomass derived from Ensete Ventricosum can be used as a promising low-cost, environmentally friendly, and efficient biosorbent for the rapid removal of MB from aqueous solutions.