Textile industrial wastewater is an important contributor to water pollution. Thus, it is crucial to minimize contaminants in industrial waste before releasing it into the environment. Methylene blue (MB) is commonly found in textile industry wastewater and can present significant risks to human health and the environment. The purpose of this work was to use γ-irradiation to modify diatomaceous earth (DE) to eliminate MB from textile wastewater. The effects of different doses of γ-irradiation on diatomaceous earth adsorption capacity were investigated. The structure and properties of modified diatomaceous earth were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Braeuer–Emmett–Teller (BET) (for surface area), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and x-ray fluorescence (XRF). The adsorption isotherm and kinetics of samples were also investigated. The adsorption behavior of textile dyes on DE samples was carried out using a UV-Vis spectroscopy technique. Adsorption of the textile dyes onto modified DE was studied by batch adsorption techniques to determine the optimum conditions at a temperature of 30ºC. The factors of this experiment were contact time (30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 min) with diffrent gamma radiation dose levels: 0 kGy (control), 5 kGy, 10 kGy, 20 kGy, and 30 kGy. The results showed that modified diatomaceous earth had a high adsorption capacity for the textile dye, with removal efficiencies ranging from 82-96% within 30 min. The maximum adsorption capacity of γ-irradiated DE was 14.9 mg g–1. This indicates that γ-irradiation of DE may enhance the adsorption rate. It could be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach for treating wastewater polluted with textile dyes.
