Adsorption of Basic Organic Colorants from an Aqua Binary ‎Mixture by Diatomite

Diatomite is an inexpensive natural ‎mineral. It can be used as an ‎adsorbent to remove organic and ‎inorganic pollutants from the ‎waste waters without further ‎improvement. In this research, the ‎adsorption of two different basic ‎colorants including Basic Yellow ‎‎28 (BY28) and Malachite Green ‎‎(MG) by diatomite has been ‎investigated in an aqua binary ‎mixture and the effects of different ‎parameters has been examined. L27 ‎matrix of Taguchi method was ‎used to optimize the number of ‎experiments. five parameters in ‎three levels (low, medium, and ‎high) were selected. These ‎parameters were colorants ‎concentration (two parameters), ‎pH, time, and adsorbent ‎concentration. Mixing speeds and ‎temperature maintained a fixed ‎value. The responses were the ‎removal percentages of each ‎colorant, separately. The results ‎showed that each colorant ‎concentration affects on the ‎adsorption of other colorant and ‎this process is sensitive to pH. In ‎addition, the effects of adsorbent ‎amount and time were as same as ‎pH.‎