Chemical and Materials Sciences: Research Findings Vol. 7

Desert date (Balanites aegyptiaca) is a plant species that is widely distributed in dry land areas of Africa and South Asia. Despite the increasing interest in low-cost adsorbents for wastewater treatment, there is limited information on the use of Balanites aegyptiaca seed coat–derived activated carbon for the removal of synthetic dyes such as safranin from aqueous solutions. This study evaluated activated carbon derived from Balanites aegyptiaca seed coats (BAAC) as a potential adsorbent for the removal of safranin dye from aqueous solutions. The research involved physico-chemical characterisation, as well as adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies. Seed coat samples were collected from Gombe Main Market, Gombe State, Nigeria. The prepared BAAC exhibited a percentage yield of 50%, pH of 6.1, moisture content of 16.3%, ash content of 10%, iodine number of 203.2 mg/g, and a surface area of 695 m²/g, indicating good adsorption potential. The FTIR spectroscopy revealed O-H, N-H, C-H, C=C, and C-O-H stretching vibrations. The influences of agitation time, initial dye concentration and adsorbent dose were studied in batch experiments at room temperature. The adsorptions were rapid in the first 15 minutes of agitation, with the uptake of 2.746 mg/kg. The adsorption equilibrium was achieved at 90 minutes of agitation. Kinetic studies showed a good correlation coefficient for both pseudo-first order and pseudo-second-order kinetics model but fitted well into pseudo-second order kinetic model. The adsorption data fitted well into the Langmuir isotherm with a correlation coefficient (R²) very close to unity and a Langmuir maximum adsorption constant, q_m> 1.00. Thus, the fitting into Langmuir indicates monolayer coverage on the adsorbents. Overall, the results demonstrate that BAAC is an effective and low-cost adsorbent with strong potential for application in the remediation of dye-contaminated wastewater. Future studies should investigate the performance of BAAC in continuous flow systems, its regeneration and reusability, and its efficiency in treating real industrial wastewater containing multiple contaminants.