Adsorption of copper on modified wood (pine) materials

The use of natural matter as an adsorbent for copper (II) removal from artificial waste water solution was investigated. To this end, two natural adsorbents, such as pine bark (MPB) modified with HCl and pine cone (MPC) modified with HCl, were studied. At first, the concentration level of the HCl solution required for modification was observed, being then followed by the determination of the optimum levels of adsorbent, stirring rate, contact time and pH values. Various adsorption isotherms were also obtained by using different concentrations of the heavy metal cations tested in the experiment. As a result, it was found out that the maximum removal efficiency levels obtained were of 98.14 %, for the modified pine cone material at pH 5, and of 88.54 % for the modified pine barks, respectively, at pH 3.