Adsorption kinetics and isotherms for Cu (II) and Ni (II) ions removal from electroplating industrial wastewater

Abstract

Present work aims for the adsorptive removal of Cu (II) and Ni (II) ions from electroplating industrial effluent using coal dust as adsorbent. Adsorbent was characterized using BET, XRD and FTIR analysis. Preliminary batch experiments were performed to determine the optimum conditions viz. pH, adsorbent dose and temperature. Various kinetic models were tested and suitability of isotherm models was also checked using experimental data. It was observed that the coal dust shows greater adsorptive capacity for Cu (II) ions in comparison to the Ni (II) ions present in the same aqueous sample. Thermodynamics suggested that the adsorption process was exothermic in nature and was found to follow the pseudo- second order kinetics. From the industrial aspects, the real waste water from an electroplating industry was characterized for its quality standards and practical applicability of coal dust as an adsorbent for the combined removal of Cu (II) and Ni (II) was investigated. © Research India Publications.