Removal of Ca(II) and Mg(II) from potassium chromate solution on Amberlite IRC 748 synthetic resin by ion exchange

Experimental measurements have been made on the batch ion exchange of Ca(II) and Mg(II) from potassium chromate solution using cation exchanger of Amberlite IRC 748 as K+ form. The ion exchange behavior of two alkaline-earth metals on the resin, depending on contact time, pH, temperature and resin dosage was studied. The adsorption isotherms were described by means of the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. For Ca(II) ion, the Langmuir model represented the adsorption process better than the Freundlich model. The maximum ion exchange capacity was found to be 47.21 mg g(-1) for Ca(II) and 27.70 mg g(-1) for Mg(II). The kinetic data were tested using Lagergren-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Kinetic data correlated well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating that the chemical adsorption was the rate-limiting step. Various thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy (Delta G degrees), enthalpy (Delta H degrees) and entropy (Delta S degrees) were also calculated. These parameters showed that the ion exchange of Ca(II) and Mg(II) from potassium chromate solution was feasible, spontaneous and endothermic process in nature. The activation energy of ion-exchange (E-a) was determined as 12.34 kJ mol(-1) for Ca(II) and 9.865 kJ mol(-1) for Mg(II) according to the Arrhenius equation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.