Lead and copper removal using Kula volcanics from environmental waters

The ability of Kula volcanics (the youngest volcanic rocks of western Anatolia) to remove Pb(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous solutions has been demonstrated, for the first time, in this study. The optimum parameters viz., pH, contact time and sorbent amount/solution volume ratio were evaluated using batch experiments. Langmuir isotherm model excellently described the sorption process and both of the ions followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. The method was applied to the natural river water samples and it was observed that the sorbent can successfully be used for the removal Pb(II) and Cu(II) ions with acceptable accuracy and precision.