| Summary: | Solid waste disposal and water pollution are the critical issues. Thus, this work aims to convert common domestic fruit wastes namely mangosteen peel (MP) and pomegranate peel (PP) into a mesoporous activated carbon (MPPP-AC) via microwave-induced strong alkaline salt (K2CO3) activation. The potential application of MPPP-AC was tested for the removal of two structurally different toxic cationic dyes namely fuchsin basic (FB) and methylene violet (MV). The physicochemical properties of MPPP-AC were analyzed utilizing several analyses such as XRD, SEM-EDX FTIR, pHpzc, and BET analysis. The adsorptive performance of MPPP-AC was optimized by using response surface methodology (RSM) with Box-Behnken design (BBD). Three key adsorption variables including the dose of MPPP-AC (A: 0.02–0.1 g/100 mL), solution pH (B: 4–10), and time of contact (C: 10–60 min) were optimized in the BBD. The highest FB removal and MV removal were found to be 80.2 % and 92.8 % respectively at 0.1 g/100 mL of MPPP-AC dosage and solution pH = 10. Thus, the best fit for the adsorption isotherm data for FB and MV dyes was the Freundlich model, whereas the pseudo-second-order model was best explained for the kinetic data. The MPPP-AC has maximum adsorption capacity for FB (85.5 mg/g) and MV (90.1 mg/g). Various forms of interaction were involved in the MV and FB dye binding process onto MPPP-AC such as the filling of pores, π-π stacking, hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic forces. The finding of this research exhibits the possibility of transforming a blending of MP and PP wastes into activated carbon which shows desirable adsorptive performance for eliminating cationic dyes from water. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.
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