Adsorption of cobalt ions from waste water on activated Saudi clays

Abstract

The aim of this work was to remove the Cobalt ions from wastewater by three types of Saudi clay. These were collected from Tabbuk city (Tabbuk clay), Khiber city (Khiber clay), and Bahhah city (Bahhah clay). The paper also examined the effect of different activators on the enhancement of adsorption capacity of clays for cobalt ions. The results showed minor enhancement in the adsorption capacities of cobalt ions on three types of clays activated by acid treatment. The adsorption capacity of clays improved particularly for Tabbuk clay when treated with hydrogen peroxide as an activator. The adsorption capacity increased from 3.94 to 12.9 mg/g for the untreated and treated Tabbuk clay, respectively. Also, the adsorption capacity of Bahhah clay increased by activating with sodium chloride from 3.44 to 12.55 mg/g for untreated and treated sample, respectively. The equilibrium adsorption data were correlated using five equilibrium equations, namely, Langmuir, Freundlich, Langmuir–Freundlich, BET, and Toth isotherm equations. Langmuir isotherm agreed well with the experimental data of Khiber and Bahhah clay, while Freundlich model and Langmuir–Freundlich model fitted well with the experimental data of Tabbuk and Bahhah clay activated by NaCl. The results showed that Freundlich model fitted well with the experimental data of Tabbuk clay when activated by H2O2 and H2SO4. Finally, the BET model did not describe the experimental data well for the three types of clay after activation.