Ferula biomass: characterization and biosorption studies for the removal of dyes
Abstract The manufacture and industrial use of dyes generate highly colored, often non-biodegradable effluents that pose serious environmental and public health risks.The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of ferula stems from the Saida region to serve as a biosorbent in the treatment of water synthetically contaminated with two dyes, Congo Red (CR) and Methylene Blue (MB). The results of XRD, FTIR, SEM, and EDS analyses confirm that ferula stems biomass has an amorphous lignocellulosic structure with functional groups and surface characteristics that favor dye adsorption. MB shows a higher adsorption capacity than CR, with a maximum retention of 33.83 mg/g versus 21.0 mg/g for CR. In competitive adsorption, the biomass showed a greater affinity for MB with 85% at higher concentrations. Adsorption data were well described by the Langmuir isotherm (R2 ≈ 0.95). These results demonstrate the promising applicability of Ferula biomass for treating dye-contaminated waters.