# Integrated economic and adsorption performance study of CMC/MMT nano-composite for cationic dye removal from industrial wastewater

## TL;DR

This study evaluates a new nanocomposite for removing cationic dyes from wastewater, combining performance testing with cost analysis.

## Contribution

The novelty lies in integrating economic analysis with adsorption performance evaluation of a CMC/MMT nanocomposite for dye removal.

## Key findings

- CMC/MMT nanocomposite showed a maximum adsorption capacity of 435 mg/g for methylene blue.
- The adsorption process followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm.
- The nanocomposite was more cost-effective than the commercial resin Amberlite IR 120.

## Abstract

The present study uniquely integrates an economic analysis with the practical evaluation of cationic dye (methylene blue) adsorption using Carboxymethyl Chitosan-Montmorillonite (CMC/MMT) nanocomposites for industrial wastewater treatment. The most influential parameters affecting adsorption, namely temperature, initial dye concentration, contact time, and pH, were explored. The sorption mechanism of CMC/MMT was analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and the adsorption kinetics were evaluated using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Moreover, a comparison between the prepared ion exchanger and commercial resin, namely Amberlite IR 120, was conducted. The effective values of pH and temperature were found to be 8.5 and 30 °C, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity was determined to be 435 mg/g compared to 290 mg/g for the commercial resin, indicating that the prepared nanocomposite has a greater capacity for cationic dye removal. The adsorption performance of CMC/MMT demonstrated that the adsorption kinetics and isotherms were compatible with a pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir isotherm respectively. Furthermore, the results of the techno-economic study for the nanocomposite production revealed that the synthesized resin under investigation exhibits a lower cost per kilogram of dye removed compared with the commercial resin.