Abstract:
The metal sorption properties of silica prepared with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a template was studied. Various parameters were investigated in both batch and and column methods. The results based on batch experiments exhibited the appropiate pH around 4 for the metal sorption condition. The presence of sodium and potassium salts in the metal solution increased significantly the extraction of Ni²⁺ whereas these salts did not have much effect on the extraction of Cd²⁺. The adsorption data obtained as a function of metal concentration were fitted to a Langmuir adsorption model. The Langmuir adsorption capacity was found to be 0.625, 0.488, 0.476, 0.308 and 0.327 mmol g⁻¹ for the extraction of Fe²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Cd²⁺, respectively. The adsorption data were modeled using intra-particle diffusion, pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic equations. It was shown that the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation could best described the adsorption kinetics.The study of adsorption-desorption cycles demonstrated five times recyclability of silica without the decline in the sorption capacity. In column method, the effect of flow rate and sample volume were investigated. The flow rate suitable for metal sorption was found to be 2 mL min⁻¹ and the optimum sample volume was 300 mL. The maximum metal adsorption capacities of silica were 0.222 and 0.589 mmol g⁻¹ for the extraction of Pb²⁺ and Ni²⁺, respectively. The study of metal adsorption-desorption cycles showed the recyclability of the sorbent without considerable loss of adsorption capacity. The sorbent was also succesfully applied for the extraction of Pb²⁺ contained in tap water, water from Chao Phraya river and waste water from plants