Removal of Copper, Nickel, and Zinc Ions from an Aqueous Solution through Electrochemical and Nanofiltration Membrane Processes

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination in water is a major health concern, directly related to rapid growth in industrialization, urbanization, and modernization in agriculture. Keeping this in view, the present study has attempted to develop models for the process optimization of nanofiltration (NF) membrane and electrocoagulation (EC) processes for the removal of copper, nickel, and zinc from an aqueous solution, employing the response surface methodology (RSM). The variable factors were feed concentration, temperature, pH, and pressure for the NF membrane process; and time, solution pH, feed concentration, and current for the EC process, respectively. The central composite design (CCD), the most commonly used fractional factorial design, was employed to plan the experiments. RSM models were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). For the NF membrane, the rejection of Zn, Ni, and Cu was observed as 98.64%, 90.54%, and 99.79% respectively; while the removal of these through the EC process was observed as 99.81%, 99.99%, and 99.98%, respectively. The above findings and a comparison with the conventional precipitation and adsorption processes apparently indicate an advantage in employing the NF and EC processes. Further, between the two, the EC process emerged as more efficient than the NF process for the removal of the studied metals.

Bioremoval of heavy metals from aqueous solution using dead biomass of indigenous fungi derived from fertilizer industry effluents: isotherm models evaluation and batch optimization

“…There was no significant change in equilibrium concentration for Pb 2+ , Ni 2+ and Zn 2+ ions after 30 min but only a slight decrease for Mn 2+ ion was observed, these decreases may be attributed to the agglomeration of Pb 2+ , Ni 2+ , Zn 2+ and Mn 2+ onto the NRCA8 active sites, the difficulty of occupying the remaining binding locations because of forces concerning the solute molecules that solid and bulk stages and permanent interaction can occur. Then Pb 2+ , Ni 2+ , Zn 2+ and Mn 2+ ions successfully diffuse from the boundary layer surrounding the NRCA8 particles to the bulk solution as previously reported (Alothman et al 2020 ; Chen et al 2019 ; Kumar et al 2022 ).…”

Multimetal bioremediation from aqueous solution using dead biomass of Mucor sp. NRCC6 derived from detergent manufacturing effluent

“…NRCC6 active sites. The difficulty in occupying the remaining binding sites can be caused by the forces between the solute molecules in the solid and bulk phases and the eversible interaction; hence, these ions diffuse successfully from the boundary layer surrounding the NRCC6 molecules into the bulk solution as previously reported (Alothman et al 2020 ; Chen et al 2019 ; Gola et al 2018 ; Kumar et al 2022 ).…”

Recovery of Metals from Wastewater—State-of-the-Art Solutions with the Support of Membrane Technology

“…Several methods such as precipitation, ion exchange, adsorption, electrochemical processes, and membrane techniques are proposed to remove nickel from solutions. The literature indicates that it is possible to effectively remove chromium ions from model aqueous solutions by FO using composite zeolite hollow fiber [ 51 ] and polydopamine/metal organic framework thin film nanocomposite membranes [ 52 ] or with multi-charged metallic complexes as draw solutes [ 53 ] or in the hybrid process NF with electrocoagulation [ 54 ] or NF alone with membrane modified with curcumin boehmite nanoparticles [ 55 ]. Moreover micellar or polymer-enhanced ultrafiltration is proposed for the removal of Ni(II) ions with the support of sodium dodecyl sulphate as surfactants [ 56 ] and poly(sodium acrylate) as polymers [ 57 ], respectively, as well as membrane filtration using polyethersulfone/α-zirconium phosphate (PES/α-ZrP) flat-sheet nanocomposite ultrafiltration membranes [ 58 ].…”