Relating interactions of dye molecules with chitosan to adsorption kinetic data.

The scope of the present work is the study of the adsorption behavior of two dyes of different nature/class on several chitosan derivatives. The adsorbents used were grafted with different functional groups (carboxyl, amido, sulfonate, N-vinylimidazole) to increase their adsorption capacity and cross-linked to improve their mechanical resistance. This complete kinetic analysis was realized at 25, 45, and 65 degrees C to observe the effect of temperature on adsorption rates for each adsorbent-adsorbate system. Activated carbon was also used as an adsorbent for reference/comparison. The experimental equilibrium data were successfully fitted to the Langmuir-Freundlich (L-F) isotherms, presenting high correlation coefficients (R(2) approximately 0.998). A detailed pore-surface diffusion with local adsorption-desorption model has been developed to describe the adsorption kinetics in chitosan adsorbents. The existence of kinetic data in several temperatures assists in recognizing the diffusion mechanism in the adsorbent particles. The findings on diffusion mechanisms and the corresponding coefficients, from using the model to match the experimental data, are compatible with the expected adsorbent-dye interactions based on their chemical structure.