A waste-to-wealth approach in the removal of Congo Red dye in wastewater using plastic char derived from municipal wastes

Modern civilization is profoundly dependent on water as a resource for various purposes. The wastewater from various sources contains various pollutants, including dyes, heavy metals, etc. Purification of this wastewater is of utmost importance and can be achieved through various technological applications. In this study, a char, synthesized from municipal plastic waste, pyrolyzed at high temperature with zeolite as catalyst, in an inert atmosphere was obtained. It was further thermally processed to remove a widely known water-soluble dye, present in industrial effluents, of anionic origin, Congo Red (CR), in an aqueous solution. Along with that, this study was aimed to understand the role of different conditions viz. dosage, pH, Temperature, and contact time in various adsorption kinetics and isotherm models. The highest removal 99.90%, was obtained with 1 gm/L adsorbent dosage, at pH 4, 308 K temperature across 180 min of contact time.