Removal of Methylene Blue from Aqueous Solutions Using as Biosorbent Sargassum Muticum: an Invasive Macroalga in Europe

Methylene blue adsorption on Sargassum muticum, an invasive macroalga in Europe, has been investigated using visible absorption spectroscopy. Different pre-treatments, protonation and chemical cross-linking with CaCl2 or H2CO, have been tested in order to improve the stability as well as the adsorption capacity of the algal biomass. The equilibrium binding has been described in terms of Langmuir or Freundlich isotherms depending on the algal pre-treatment; from the maximum adsorption capacity values, an estimation of the algal specific surface area was made. Moreover, it has been found that adsorption kinetics can be described according to the first order Lagergren model, from which the rate constant and the adsorption capacity were determined. Finally, simple empirical equations were obtained to evaluate the amount of methylene blue removed at any initial concentration and reaction time. The results obtained have shown that this type of material has a high adsorption capacity for methylene blue dye, this feature together with the short times needed to reach the equilibrium suggest that Sargassum muticum can be used as a low-cost biosorbent in wastewater treatments.