Polyaniline(PANI) was one of the most extensively studied adsorbents due to its low cost and good environmental stability. The objective of the current study was to improve the selective capabilities of PANI for anionic dyes. We found that the acid doped PANI prepared with hydrochloric acid and p-toluenesulfonic acid(PTSA) could selectively adsorb anionic dyes. It exhibited very good selectivity for OG dye, the mechanism was proposed based on the chemical interaction of PANI with the sulfonate group of the dyes. The effects of solution p H, initial dye concentration, and different HCl/PTSA mole ratios on the adsorption capacity of OG have been investigated. Kinetic simulations indicated that the adsorption process could be well represented by pseudo-second-order kinetic plots. The isothermal adsorption curve fitting also showed that the adsorption process could be well described by the Langmuir isothermal equation. The results showed that acid doped PANI could be employed as a promising adsorbent for anion removal from dye wastewater.
