Removal of copper (II) and cobalt (III) ions by adsorption method from waste waters

In this study, batch experiments were carried out for the adsorption of copper and cobalt onto boron industry waste. The operating variables studied were initial metal concentration, initial solution pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time. Equilibrium adsorption data were fitted to Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms. Langmuir isotherm was found to be an optimum isotherm for two metals. The maximum adsorption capacity for copper (II) and cobalt (III) were found to be 70,18 mg g-1 at optimum conditions of pH (6.0) and temperature (25oC) and 63,7 mg g-1 at optimum conditions of pH (7.0) and temperature (25oC) , respectively. The equilibrium time for the removal of copper (II) and cobalt (III) by the adsorbent was reached within 90 min. Two simplified kinetics models were tested to investigate adsorption mechanisms in terms of first order and pseudo-second order rate equations. The adsorption rates of copper (II) and cobalt (III) were found to be in consistent with the pseudo-second order model.Keywords: Adsorption; Boron Industry Waste; pH, Langmuir; Pseudo-Second Order Rate.