COPPER REMOVAL FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION BY NEW ADSORBENTS

Ash from thermal power plant was used as raw material for new adsorbents synthesis using alkaline attack and ultrasonic methods. In detail, it was mixed with 5M NaOH solution and treated at different contact time. The ash and the adsorbents were characterized by electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The new materials based on ash were applied as water sorbent to remove copper ions. The determination of copper ions was performed by atomic absorption. The results showed that these types of new adsorbents have a good capacity to remove copper ions from aqueous solution. For all synthesized adsorbents the predominant mechanism can be described by pseudo-second order kinetics. The alkaline attack method seems to be the most effective compared with the ultrasonic method and could present application potential for the copper removal.