Application of polypyrrole coated onto wood sawdust for the removal of carmoisine dye from aqueous solutions

In this research, the removal of carmoisine dye from aqueous solutions using polypyrrole coated onto sawdust (PPy/SD) has been investigated. The sorption experiments were performed using both batch and column systems. The effects of some important parameters such as pH, initial concentration, sorbent dosage, exposure time, and temperature on uptake of carmoisine dye were investigated. Based on the data obtained in batch system, it was found that maximum adsorption is occurred under acidic conditions. Complete removal was observed when a dye solution with the initial concentration of 100 mg L−1 was treated by 1.0 g of the used adsorbent (PPy/SD) at pH value of 4 and room temperature. However, higher sorption was observed at elevated temperature. According to the kinetics study, it was found that the experimental data fitted very well the pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model (k2 = 0.184 g mg−1 min−1). It was found that polypyrrole chemically coated on SD is an efficient system for the removal of carmoisine dye from aqueous solutions. Desorption of the dye‐loaded column was also possible by using dilute NaOH solution with high efficiency (∼ 80%). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011