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Abstract
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Alginate-grafted polyaniline (Alg-g-PANI) microparticles were synthesized through the grafting of aniline onto
functionalized Alg followed by double crosslinking by glutaraldehyde and calcium chloride. The performance of
the developed microparticles as adsorbent in simultaneous removal of malachite green (MG) and congo red (CR)
dyes were examined by the batch method. Experimental parameters, including adsorbent amount, pH, initial
dyes concentrations, and contact time were optimized. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were
employed to explore the equilibrium isotherm. As the Langmuir model results, the maximum adsorption capacities
(Qm) of microparticles for the MG and CR dyes were obtained as 578.3 and 409.6 mgg 1, respectively.
Adsorption kinetics for both dyes were well-fitted with the pseudo-second-order model that confirm the ratelimiting
step might be the chemical adsorption. The adsorbent was regenerated via desorption process and
was reusable five times without a substantial decrease in its adsorption efficacy in first three cycles. Adsorbentdyes
interactions were computationally evaluated using Gromacs package, and it was found that both MG and CR
are able to interact strongly with the adsorbent. In accordance with experimental results, simulation data
revealed that MG can be removed more efficiently than those of the CR. As the experimental results, we could
conclude that the synthesized Alg-g-PANI microparticles can be used as a nature-inspired adsorbent for simultaneous
removals of CR and MG dyes.
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