High-Efficiency Adsorption of Rhodamine B onto Pristine Biochar Derived from Borassus flabellifer Fruit Husk Fiber: Kinetic, Isotherm, and ANN Modeling Studies
摘要
This study, for the first time, investigates Rhodamine B (RhB) removal using pristine biochar derived from Borassus flabellifer fruit husk fiber (BFB), integrated with a data-driven artificial neural network (ANN) model. The BFB was synthesized via pyrolysis and characterized using Field emission scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (FESEM-EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analyses. Adsorption efficiency was optimized by varying key parameters, including solution pH (3–12), initial RhB concentration (100–400 ppm), BFB loading (1–5 g/L), and adsorption time (0–90 min). Nearly complete RhB removal was achieved within 90 min at pH 3, using a BFB loading of 5 g/L and an initial RhB concentration of 100 ppm. A MISO-ANN model with a 4–15-1 architecture accurately predicted adsorption behavior with a high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.999), demonstrating excellent agreement with experimental results. Adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second-order model (PSO), while isotherm analyses revealed conformity with both two-parameter and three-parameter isotherm models (R2 > 0.99), with a maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) of 35.10 mg/g obtained from Langmuir isotherm model. Thermodynamic analysis confirmed that the adsorption process was spontaneous (ΔG˚ = -27.315 to -29.570 kJ/mol) and endothermic (ΔH˚ = 31.284 kJ/mol). Reusability assessment over eight consecutive cycles demonstrated the regeneration potential of BFB for practical wastewater treatment applications.