Removal of a Yellow-Orange Cosmetic Dye by a Biosorbent Derived from the Outer Shell of the Argan Fruit

In this study, the powder of the external pulp of the fruit of the argan tree was used as an adsorbent material to adsorb an orange-yellow dye (cosmetic) present in wastewater, from an aqueous solution. An adsorption test was carried out and the rate of adsorption of the yellow-orange dye by the adsorbent material gave an adsorption rate of over 90%. The adsorption is consistent with excellent adsorption parameters. The material showed excellent performance at acidic pH and no performance at basic pH, with an optimum time of no more than 10 minutes. The SEM gave excellent images confirming the porosity of the adsorbent material. The biosorbent synthesised in this work has potential for the adsorption of dyes in wastewater.