Binary adsorption of zinc and copper on expanded vermiculite using a fixed bed column

Increased wastewater production in the last several years has led to interest in new wastewater treatment technologies such as adsorption. This work evaluated the removal process of Zn2+/Cu2+ binary solutions using expanded vermiculite as alternative adsorbent. Assays were performed in dynamic systems to evaluate the influence of operating flow rate, adsorbate initial concentration and molar fraction on the adsorption process. Expanded vermiculite presented higher selectivity for zinc in single solutions as well as in binary system.