<italic>Camellia oleifera</italic> Abel shells as a new biosorbent to remove methylene blue from aqueous solutions

This study aimed at investigating the feasibility of using Camellia oleifera Abel shell (COAS), an agriculture product in middle-west region in China, for the adsorption of methylene blue (MB), a cationic dye. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to evaluate the effects of contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage, temperature and initial concentration on the adsorption of MB. Adsorption equilibrium studies showed that MB adsorption followed Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 454.54 mg/g. The results demonstrated that the COAS is a promising adsorbent in the removal of MB from aqueous solutions.

Keywords: biological adsorption, Camellia oleifera Abel shell, methylene blue