PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The removal efficiency of malachite green (MG) dye ions by using a bulk liquid membrane was investigated. The transport of MG dye ions was accomplished using a bulk liquid membrane, which contained salicylic acid as carrier, sodium hydroxide as extractant, and acetic acid as acceptor. Different factors were examined for removal efficiency, such as pH of the acceptor phase in the range of pH 3−7, initial dye concentration at 20−60 mg/L, and concentration of carrier in the range of 8−12 mg/L. Box-Wilson method for experimental design was adopted to establish the relationships between these operating variables attributed to affecting the treatment process, and the mechanism of dye transport from feeding to acceptor phase. The results indicated that the optimum conditions for dye extraction were achieved at pH 6, dye concentration of 20 mg/L, and carrier concentration of 12mg/L. The implementation of these parameters on the prepared dye solution revealed a relatively high removal efficiency of MG dye (98.4%). A Box-Wilson model was modified and found to fit the effect of variable response, with a correlation coefficient (R) = 0.977 and root-mean square error (S) = 1.8%. This work proved that liquid membrane was effectively useful for dye removal from the wastewater.