Apricot stone- impregnated Fe(III): an efficient, novel and eco-friendly adsorbents for removal of purpurin dye from environmental water samples

This work reports the preparation of novel, simple and eco-friendly adsorbents for removal of purpurin dye from aqueous solutions. These adsorbents were prepared through impregnation process for outer shell (AHS) and the kernel (AK) of apricot stone with Fe(III). The developed adsorbents (AHS, AHS-Fe, AK and AK-Fe) are characterized by FT-IR and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental conditions such as pH, adsorbent dosage and dye concentration were optimized for removal of purpurin using these four adsorbents. The maximum adsorption capacity for purpurin on all adsorbents was observed at pH 4.0. It was found that the adsorption percent values of AHS and AK were 20.28 and 10.0 %, respectively which lower than those of AHS-Fe and AK-Fe (97.82 and 98.0 %, respectively). The method was successfully applied for determination of purpurin in environmental water samples using UV/Visible spectrometry at a wavelength of maximum absorbance (485 nm).