Metal Ions Removal Using Nano Oxide Pyrolox™ Material

The paper presents the use of Pyrolox (TM) containing manganese nano oxides used for the removal of Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II) as well as U(VI) ions. Their concentrations were analyzed using the atomic absorption spectrometer SpectrAA 240 FS (Varian) as well as UV-vis method. For this purpose the static kinetic and equilibrium studies were carried out using the batch technique. The effect of solution pH, shaking time, initial metal ion concentrations, sorbent dosage, and temperature was investigated. The equilibrium data were analyzed using the sorption isotherm models proposed by Freundlich, Langmuir-Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich. The kinetic results showed that the pseudo second order kinetic model was found to correlate the experimental data well. The results indicate that adsorption of Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II) as well as U(VI) ions is strongly dependent on pH. The value of pH 4-7 was optimal adsorption. The time to reach the equilibrium was found to be 24 h, and after this time, the sorption percentage reached about 70%. Kinetics of Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Pb(II), and U(VI) adsorption on the adsorbent can be described by the pseudo second order rate equation. Nitrogen adsorption/desorption, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements for adsorbent characterization were performed. Characteristic points of the double layer determined for the studied Pyrolox (TM) sample in 0.001 mol/dm3 NaCl solution are pH(PZC) = 4 and pH(IEP) < 2.