Alec Kindall

Emily Close
David Pace
Tianhao Wang

Experiment A - Dye Adsorption Prelab

Safety
The two dyes available to us are Orange G and Methylene Blue. The two resins to be
used for adsorption are Amberlite IRN-77 and Amberlite IRA-67. IRN-77 is a basic
resin and IRA-67 is an acidic resin. Orange G is to be used with IRA-67 and
Methylene Blue is to be used with IRN-77.
Orange G dye is slightly basic and can be irritating if it comes in contact with the
skin. Eye contact is more severe and, if it occurs, it should be flushed from the eyes
with an eyewash for at least 15 minutes. Orange G should not be ingested as it can
cause nausea and vomiting.
Methylene Blue is slightly acidic when dissolved in water. As a result, it is a skin and
eye irritant and care should be made to ensure that it is not exposed to our skin or
eyes. If contact is made, the exposed area should be immediately washed. Should
any be ingested, a physician should be called immediately.
These Methylene Blue and Orange G solutions will be stirred with an electric stir bar
as well as pipetted from vessel to vessel, so care must be taken to ensure there are
no spills or drips onto the counter. Should any spills or drips occur, they should be
cleaned posthaste.

Hypothesis
There are two main types of adsorption: monolayer and multilayer adsorption.
Monolayer adsorption is frequently modeled with the Langmuir isotherm model.
Multilayer adsorption is often modeled with the Freundlich model. Generally,
multilayer adsorption only occurs if the adsorbing species is hydrophobic. Neither
Methylene Blue or Orange G are hydrophobic, as both contain polar bonds and are
polar overall. This makes them dissolve easily in water and not likely to adsorb via a
multilayer process. Because of this, it is our prediction that the adsorption of the
dyes can be modeled with the Langmuir isotherm model.

Approach
This experiment will examine three main components: Equilibrium adsorption
behavior, Dynamic adsorption behavior, and Dynamic adsorption in a fixed bed.
Each will be addressed individually.
Firstly, before any experiments are conducted, a calibration curve must be used
generated. Using the dyes and stoichiometry, a dilution series will be prepared and
tested to find the relationship between the concentration of the dye and the
adsorption of the solution. This must be well tested to ensure accuracy as all
concentration measurements will be based off of this relationships. Any errors here
could ruin any data and analysis done later. For this reason, we plan to individually
prepare each concentration tested. Preparing a bulk that is incorrectly measured or
otherwise faulty and then diluted and tested would cause a single error to
propagate and ruin the baseline of all our future calculations.

Alec Kindall
Emily Close
David Pace
Tianhao Wang
Secondly, the equilibrium behavior can be measured. Beakers will be filled to 25 mL
of varying concentrations with a mass of .2 g of the adsorbing resin. These will be
allowed to sit and mix via electric stirbar for 45 minutes. After theyve sat for that
amount of time, the solutions will be tested, the resins disposed of, and the data
analyzed. The final concentration is the most important part of this data as it will tell
us which concentration to test for the dynamic experiment. If the final concentration
is very dilute or nearly nonexistent, getting good readings of the concentration will
be difficult. If the concentration is too high, we run the risk of exceeding the linear
region of the light absorbing region modeled by the Beer-Lambert law.
For the dynamic adsorption model, the initial concentration will be picked based off
of data for the equilibrium data. We should look for an initial concentration that is
not so low that all the dye adsorbs out of solution nor one so high that the light
absorbing behavior of the solution is no longer able to be modeled via the BeerLambert law. Once the initial concentration is decided upon, the solution will be run
similar to the equilibrium testing done before. The difference between these two
procedures is the taking of samples from the mixture every minute, tested with the
spectrometer, then poured back into the solution. These steps must be done quickly
to ensure as little disturbance is caused to the adsorption process. These data
points will be used to determine how the dye adsorbs onto the resin.
Lastly, the packed bed set up will use a bed packed with the resin. A large volume of
the solution of the concentration determined earlier will be pumped through the
bed. The outlet stream will be collected and tested every minute to determine how
the packed bed adsorbs the dye over time.
If there is time left, additional parameters may be tested.

Controls
As described earlier, the calibration curve prepared is absolutely vital for the
ensuing calculations and relationships created. As for the light absorption
measurements, the dye solutions will be tested with a BioMate 3 series
spectrophotometer. Orange G should be tested at a wavelength of around 450 to
510 nm, while Methylene Blue should be tested at a wavelength of about 590 nm

Data Analysis
Data measured will be plotted in Excel to generate concentration vs time graphs in
the case of the dynamic and packed bed experiment. Excel will be instrumental for
the generation of the calibration curve as well as the analysis of equilibrium
coefficients.

Workflow/Management
On the first day, we plan to prepare the calibration curve and the equilibrium
experiment. Replicates of the equilibrium information will also be generated. On the
second day, we will perform the dynamic test and replicates for that. On the third,
we will likely take the day off for the career fair and all that. On the fourth, we will
run the packed bed experiment.