Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Abstract

When dye industries do not dispose of residues properly, the contamination of these dyes in wastewaters can affect aquatic living environments. Spent chai tea (CT) leaves were used to help adsorb these dye contaminates in aqueous solutions in batch experiments at room temperature. Two dyes, Crystal Violet (CV) and Malachite Green (MG) were used because of their widespread use. Multiple parameters were studied to optimize the removal of both dyes, including: pH, mass of adsorbents, initial dye, salinity, and presence of heavy metals. CV showed results that indicated optimum adsorption with the pH of 4 when dissolved in 50 mg of CT. The CT leaves adsorbed all of the dye with a concentration of 0.16 g/L. MG on the other hand reached its optimum pH of 4 when dissolved in 100 mg of CT. The CT leaves were most saturated with the concentration of 0.125 g/L. When heavy metals and salt were present in both dye solutions, there were negative effects that inhibited adsorption. We believe that with these procedures, there is an inexpensive way to help improve the quality of life for aquatic living environments that are present in polluted wastewaters.

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