Experimental study of the removal of copper from aqueous solutions by adsorption using sawdust

The test and use of natural materials as adsorbents for the removal of various pollutants such as heavy metals from industrial wastewater is under constant development. Consequently this work concerns the study of copper adsorption by means of sawdust obtained as by-product from locally used wood. The copper retention study has been carried out batchwise where the influence of physico-chemical key parameters such as the solution pH, the temperature, the agitation speed, the initial concentration, the contacting time, the liquid to solid ratio and the ionic strength has been considered. A desorption study for the solid support regeneration has also been included. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of sawdust for copper has been obtained by using linear Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms. The results tend to explain the retention mechanism as an ion exchange process for binding the divalent metal ions to the sawdust.