Batch and column removal of copper by modified brown algae sargassum bevanom from aqueous solution

The aim of this research work is to investigate sorption characteristics of brown algae Sargassum bevanom (S. bevanom) for the removal of Cu(II) ions from aqueous solutions. The sorption of Cu(II) ions by batch method is carried out. The optimum conditions of biosorption were found to be: a biomass dose of 0.4 g in 100 ml of Cu(II), contact time of 100 min and pH 6, respectively. In optimum condition, removal efficiency was 88.45%. Meanwhile, the maximum adsorption capacity was 73.26 mg g-1. Four equations, i.e. Morris–Weber, Lagergren, Elovich and pseudo second order have been tested to track the kinetics of removal process. The data are well described by pseudo-second-order model. The Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevic (D–R) are subjected to sorption data to estimate sorption capacity, and the Langmuir shows the high performance in the fitting of equilibrium data. It can be concluded that S. bevanom has potential to remove Cu(II) ions from aqueous solutions at different concentrations. Also, it achieved 75% desorption efficiency using 0.1 M HCl, and reusing of adsorbent shows high ability in the Cu(II) removal from aqueous solution. The removal of Cu(II) by S. bevanom was also investigated in a fixed bed column. Experiments were conducted to study the effect of important parameters such as bed depth (10–20 cm), initial concentration and flow rate (5–15 ml min−1). Meanwhile, the regeneration and reusability of this adsorbent for five cycles was studied. © 2013 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.