Adsorption of heavy metal from industrial wastewater onto low-cost Malaysian kaolin clay-based adsorbent

Chai JB 1 , Au PI 2 , Mubarak NM 3 , Khalid M 4 , Ng WP 1 , Jagadish P 4 Show all authors , Walvekar R 5 , Abdullah EC 6

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. pek.ing@curtin.edu.my
  • 3 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. mubarak.mujawar@curtin.edu
  • 4 Graphene & Advanced 2D Materials Research Group (GAMRG), School of Science and Technology, Sunway University, No. 5, Jalan Universiti, Bandar Sunway, 47500, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 5 School of Engineering, Taylor's University, 47500, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 6 Department of Chemical Process Engineering, Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, 54100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2020 Apr;27(12):13949-13962.
PMID: 32036527 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-07755-y

Abstract

Adsorption capacity and percentage removal efficiency of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions were studied and compared between raw kaolinite and acid-activated kaolinite. Acid-activated kaolin was prepared by refluxing raw kaolinite with concentrated sulphuric acid followed by calcination to enhance its surface properties and adsorption ability. Both raw and acid-activated kaolinite samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, scanning electron micrograph and zeta potential analysis. Upon acid treatment, acid-activated kaolinite was discovered to have altered chemical composition and larger BET surface area as compared with raw kaolinite. The batch adsorption studies on aqueous solution were performed under different factors such as contact time, pH condition, adsorbent dosage, initial metal ion concentration and temperature. The optimum condition was selected for each factor including a contact time of 60 min, pH of 7.0, adsorbent dosage of 0.1 g, initial metal ion concentration of 100 mg/L and temperature of 25 °C. Then, the adsorption studies on wastewater samples were carried out at the selected optimum conditions. Acid-activated kaolinite always had better adsorption capacity and percentage removal efficiency than raw kaolinite due to the increasing amount of negative charges on the adsorbent surface and the number of metal ion binding sites upon acid treatment. The adsorption kinetic obtained was well described by the pseudo-second-order model, whereas the adsorption isotherms obtained were well described by either the Freundlich or the Langmuir adsorption model. The results showed that acid-activated kaolinite adsorbent is a better option as a favourable and feasible commercial low-cost adsorbent for wastewater treatment.

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