Preparation of chitin nanowhiskers and its application for crystal violet dye removal from wastewaters.

Chitin (Ch) and chitin nanowhiskers (ChNW) were prepared, characterized, and applied as adsorbent to remove crystal violet (CV) dye from aqueous solutions. Ch was obtained from shrimp wastes and submitted to acid hydrolysis in order to find ChNW. The increase in average pore size and the rod-like shape of ChNW were probably the main characteristics which contributed to the increase in adsorption potential, when compared with raw Ch. The adsorbent dosage considered more adequate was 5 g L-1, and the most suitable pH was 8.0. A pseudo-second-order model was adequate to represent the kinetic profile. Sips and Hill models were suitable to fit the equilibrium curves. The maximum adsorption capacity of CV on ChNW was 59.52 mg g-1, and the process was endothermic, favorable, and spontaneous. These findings indicated that ChNW have potential to be used as adsorbent in the treatment of colored wastewaters.