Copper, Zinc And Nickel’s Removal By Bentonite Clay: Case Study In Mono And Multicomponent Systems

Abstract

The main purpose of this work is the Copper, Zinc and Nickel’s removal from mono and multi-metal ions aqueous solution using an Algerian bentonite without treatment. The bentonite is characterized using SEM, XRD and X-ray fluorescence. The effect of initial pH and contact time are studied. Under mono and multicomponent systems, the kinetic studies performed at pH 5, indicate that the adsorption follows a pseudo second order model. For both systems, the isotherm data are well correlated with Langmuir model. Whereas the maximum adsorption capacities follow the sequence’s order Cu > Zn > Ni. In the case of multicomponent system, the Cu(II), Zn(II) and Ni(II) adsorptions capacities (58.82, 19.53 and 6.56 mg/g) are lower than the obtained ones for the monocomponent system (58.48, 49.02 and 31.74 mg/g). In addition to that, a mutual competitive effect is observed. Zn(II) and Ni(II) ions adsorption is also inhibited by Cu(II) ions with no change in the maximum Cu(II) adsorption capacity.