Highly efficient removal of lead from aqueous solution by a superior accessible nanoscale zero-valent iron/NaY zeolite adsorbent: Isotherm, kinetic, and thermodynamic studies

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Tarbiat Modares University

Abstract

One of the nowadays’ challenges currently confronting the world is the employment of an effective adsorbent on an industrial scale in order to be able to remove the heavy metals from the aqueous media. This study aimed to investigate the performance of a nanoscale zero-valent iron loaded on NaY zeolite (nZVI/NaY zeolite) composite for the sake of eliminating lead ions from aqueous solutions. The characteristics of the nZVI/NaY zeolite were determined using XRD, FESEM, and BET analyses. The impact of various parameters, including weight ratio of nZVI to NaY zeolite, pH, initial concentration, contact time, adsorbent dosage, and temperature was investigated on adsorption. In the optimum conditions, which include a pH level of 6, an adsorbent dosage of 0.5 g/L, a contact time of 60 minutes, an initial concentration of 250 mg/L of lead, and an ambient temperature of 25°C, the maximum removal efficiency of lead ions by the nZVI/NaY zeolite composite was 99.25%. The correlation of equilibrium data with Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherms indicated consistency with the Freundlich isotherm. Pseudo-first-order, Pseudo-second-order, Morris-Weber, and Elovich models were used to investigate adsorption kinetics, and nZVI/NaY zeolite showed a good correlation with the Pseudo-second-order. According to the thermodynamic parameters, the adsorption process is feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic. The results demonstrated a maximum capacity of 714.3 mg/g for the adsorbent. This significant adsorption capacity can be used as an effective parameter on an industrial scale to reduce the lead concentration to an acceptable level. Furthermore, the employed adsorbent is able to be simply separated from the end of the adsorption process via the external magnetic field. These results display that nZVI/NaY zeolite is a superior adsorbent applied to eliminate lead ions from aqueous solutions and can be used in water resources recovery and also for the treatment of industrial effluents.

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Iranian Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 06 March 2024

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