Growth of Novel Cinnamon-Bentonite Loaded Chitosan Nanospikes for the Confiscation of Congo Red: Adsorption Studies and ANN Modeling

The study focuses on synthesizing cinnamon-bentonite-loaded chitosan nanospikes for the enhanced removal of Congo red, a hazardous dye commonly found in textile wastewater. Various analytical techniques, such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscope, Thermogravimetric Analysis, and X-ray Diffraction, were employed to characterize the functional, morphological, thermal, and crystalline properties of the prepared nanospikes. The research investigated the impact of different process parameters by systematically varying their ranges. The Sips model best described the adsorption mechanism, revealing a maximum adsorption capacity of 876 mg/g for cinnamon-bentonite-loaded chitosan nanospikes. The adsorption kinetics were best described by the pseudo-nth order kinetic model. Thermodynamic analysis indicated that the Congo red adsorption process is spontaneous, favorable at higher temperatures, and endothermic in nature. The artificial neural network model exhibited a good agreement with experimental data, revealing efficient prediction of Congo red removal efficiency for both chitosan and cinnamon-bentonite-loaded chitosan nanospikes. Contact time exhibited the highest relative importance in adsorption among the influencing variables. The study concludes that chitosan nanospikes offer a potential remedial solution as efficient adsorbent for the removal of Congo red from textile wastewater.