Studies on desorption and regeneration of natural pumice for iron removal from aqueous solution

To make the adsorption process more economic and environmental friendly, it is necessary to study desorption and reutilization of the adsorbents. In the present study, the effectiveness of natural pumice in removal of iron from aqueous solution was investigated in several sorption-desorption cycles. The desorption characteristics of previously adsorbed iron ions on natural pumice were tested by various desorbing agents such as HCl, NaOH and aquadest. Among them, HCl showed the highest desorption efficiency (37.89%) with 0.1 M of concentration and 60 min of contact time. The removal efficiency of iron ions in reused natural pumice could be maintained up to 90% in the third cycle of adsorption. The results indicate that although complete desorption was not achieved, natural pumice from Sungai Pasak, West Sumatra, Indonesia, can be sufficiently reused up to three cycles of adsorption-desorption.