Corncob as an effective, eco-friendly, and economic biosorbent for removing the azo dye Direct Yellow 27 from aqueous solutions

The corncob is an agricultural waste generated in huge quantities during corn processing. In this paper, we tested the capacity of corncob particles for water purification by removing the azo dye Direct Yellow 27 (DY27) via biosorption. The biosorption process was investigated in terms of the kinetics, equilibria, and thermodynamics. Batch biosorption studies showed that the biosorption performance has strong inverse correlations to the solution pH and the corncob particle size, and it increases quickly with increasing contact time and initial dye concentration. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model provides the best fit to the experimental data, whereas the Redlich-Peterson isotherm model is most suitable for describing the observed equilibrium biosorption. The biosorption process is exothermic, spontaneous, and physisorption in character. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM) studies suggest that lignocellulose and proteins play key roles in the biosorption of DY27 from aqueous solutions by corncob. Furthermore, after biosorption onto the corncob, the dye can be effectively desorbed using 0.1 M NaOH solution. Therefore, the corncob can be used as a promising biosorbent to remediate DY27-contaminated water and wastewater.