Removal of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions from an aqueous solution using α-Fe2O3 nanoparticle-coated volcanic rocks

Abstract

An adsorbent, volcanic rocks coated with α-Fe₂O₃nanoparticles, was prepared and utilized for the removal of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions from an aqueous solution. Characterization of the coated volcanic rocks indicated that the α-Fe₂O₃nanoparticles were successfully and homogeneously distributed on the volcanic rocks, including penetration into rock pores. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate adsorption performance. The adsorption behavior of both ions was found to best fit a pseudo second-order model and Langmuir isotherm. The maximum adsorption capacities of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions were 58.14 mg g⁻¹ and 56.50 mg g⁻¹ at 293 K, respectively, and increased with rising temperature. The loaded α-Fe₂O₃nanoparticles onto volcanic rock significantly increased removal of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions. The adsorption process was combined control of film diffusion and intra-particle diffusion. Adsorption thermodynamics indicated the adsorption process was spontaneous and occurred mainly through chemisorption. The results confirmed that the volcanic rocks coated with α-Fe₂O₃nanoparticles acted as a high-efficiency and low-cost absorbent, and effectively removed Cu(II) and Ni(II) from wastewater.

Volcanic rock powder residues as precursors for the synthesis of adsorbents and potential application in the removal of dyes and metals from water

“…Due to the chemical composition of the waste rock powder, studies have sought to verify their potential as an adsorbent, being this applied directly or functionalized with another element (Zhu et al 2015;Asere et al 2017;Tejeda et al 2017;Bugarčić et al 2018;Chao et al 2019). Recently, alkaline activated materials, such as geopolymers, have been gaining space in adsorption studies, and very promising results have been achieved in treating effluents containing dyes (Vieira et al 2021).…”

Use of porous volcanic rocks for the adsorptive removal of copper

“…) and iron oxide nanoparticle‐coated volcanic rocks (Zhu et al . ) have been investigated for Cu(II) removal.…”

“…For instance, sawdust (Yu et al 2000), bentonite clay (Helena et al 2011), gisenyi volcanic rocks (Sekomo et al 2012), scoria (Seyfi et al 2015) and iron oxide nanoparticle-coated volcanic rocks (Zhu et al 2015) have been investigated for Cu(II) removal.…”