Comparison of lead, cadmium, copper and cobalt adsorption onto metal oxides and organic materials in natural surface coatings

Selective extraction techniques followed by adsorption experiment and statistical analysis were employed to estimate and compare the relative roles of metal oxides and organic substance in adsorption of Pb, Cd, Cu and Co onto surface coatings. Results indicated that metal oxides were very important sorbents for all of metal ions involved in this study, especially for Pb and Co. Furthermore, manganese oxides contributed to the absolute majority of Co adsorption regardless of concentration. But for Cu and Cd, organic materials are also very important sorbent phases, particularly for Cu, organic materials contributed to most of the Cu adsorption regardless of concentration. In addition, the analysis suggested the extraordinary predominance of Mn oxides for metal adsorption at the low concentrations. Considering the low concentration in natural water environments, Mn oxides might exert the greatest influence on the behavior of heavy metals.