Removal of Nickel(II) from Aqueous Solutions by Adsorption with Modified ZSM- 5 Zeolites

P. Panneerselvam,S. Sivanesan,V. Sathya Selva Bala,N. Thinakaran,M. Palanichamy,P. Baskaralingam

doi:10.1155/2009/820923

Abstract

The sorptive removal of nickel ion from aqueous solutions using modified ZSM-5 zeolites was investigated. Experiments were carried out as a function of solute concentration and different temperatures. Mesoporous material of ZSM-5 zeolite was modified with phosphoric acid by wet method. The modified zeolite was converted to Na+form using aqueous NaHCO3solution. The Na+form of modified zeolite, represented as PNa2--ZSM-5 was characterized by XRD, BET, SEM and AAS techniques. It was then tested for ion exchange with aqueous Ni(SO4) solution. The Ni2+content of the solution was analyzed by AAS. Phosphoric acid modified PNa2--ZSM-5 zeolite shows higher adsorption capacity than the parent Na-Y zeolite. Equilibrium modeling data were fit to linear Langmuir model then the Freundlich model. These parameter confirmed that sorption of Ni2+is feasible spontaneous and endothermic.

Highlights

Several environmental and health problems, associated with the metal contamination of the natural systems are arising from mining industries, smelting, brass, metal coating, silver refineries, electroplating and several other industrial activities[1,2]
The Scanning electron microscope (SEM) pictures of the parent H- ZSM-5, Na-ZSM-5 and PNa2--ZSM-5 zeolites are shown in Figure 3 (a, b and c) respectively
The results suggest that the pseudo-second order sorption mechanism is predominant and that the over all rate constant of each ion appears to be controlled by the chemisorption process[17]

Summary

Introduction

Several environmental and health problems, associated with the metal contamination of the natural systems (soil and water) are arising from mining industries, smelting, brass, metal coating, silver refineries, electroplating and several other industrial activities[1,2]. Zeolites have been intensively studied recently because of their applicability in removing trace quantities of heavy metal ions from aqueous solution by utilizing the ion exchange phenomenon[4,5,6]. ZSM-5 zeolite has been modified for removal of Ni2+ ion from aqueous solution. The results obtained from this study are important for ion exchange and water softening applications.

Results

Conclusion