Chitosan is a natural polymer that has been employed in dye adsorption. In this work, adsorption and thermodynamic data for the interaction of FD&C Red n° 40 food dye with chitosan in aqueous solutions were investigated. The equilibrium adsorption isotherms were determined by the batch method, from 298 to 338 K. Adsorption data were adjusted to five isotherm models: Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich, in order to determine which presented the best adjustment to the experimental data. Error analysis showed that the Langmuir isotherm model was the most appropriate for fitting the experimental data, with a maximum monolayer adsorption of 3065.8 µmol g-1 at 308 K. Negative enthalpy (-112.7 kJ mol-1), entropy (-0.338 kJ mol-1 K-1) and Gibbs free energy (-15.6 to 1.0 kJ mol-1) values demonstrated that the adsorption process is exothermic, spontaneous, favorable, and that randomness of the system decreases during the adsorption process.
Dye adsorption; Chitosan; Isotherm models
