Water contamination from dyes is a major issue that needs to be solved effectively. Addressing this issue, the study aims to improve the adsorption capacity of montmorillonite (MMT) by its modification for removing methylene blue (MB) dye. Powder XRD, FTIR, FESEM, HRTEM, BET, and XPS were employed to analyze the modified materials. Various parameters were studied to optimize the adsorption efficiency of modified MMT. To enhance the removal efficiency of MMT (70.05 ± 0.16 %), this study has modified MMT with banana peel ash extract (BPAE) which achieved maximum MB removal of 98.54 ± 0.31 % under neutral pH, with an equilibrium time of 150 min, initial dye concentration of 120 mg/L, and adsorbent dosage of 1.4 g/L at ambient temperature (32 °C). Among the isotherm models, the Langmuir model showed a maximum adsorption capacity of 100 mg/g. Experimental data fitted well with the Elovich kinetic model. Reusability was efficient up to the third cycle, retaining 56.96 ± 0.39 % efficiency.

A novel approach for modification of montmorillonite using banana peel ash extract for enhanced adsorption efficiency of methylene blue dye