Adsorption Performance of Modified Fly Ash for Copper Ion Removal from Aqueous Solution
Gabriela Buema,
Maria Harja,
Nicoleta Lupu,
Horia Chiriac,
Loredana Forminte,
Gabriela Ciobanu,
Daniel Bucur,
Roxana Dana Bucur
Affiliations
Gabriela Buema
National Institute of Research and Development for Technical Physics, 47 Mangeron Boulevard, 700050 Iasi, Romania
Maria Harja
Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, 73 Prof. dr. docent Dimitrie Mangeron Str., 700050 Iasi, Romania
Nicoleta Lupu
National Institute of Research and Development for Technical Physics, 47 Mangeron Boulevard, 700050 Iasi, Romania
Horia Chiriac
National Institute of Research and Development for Technical Physics, 47 Mangeron Boulevard, 700050 Iasi, Romania
Loredana Forminte
Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, 73 Prof. dr. docent Dimitrie Mangeron Str., 700050 Iasi, Romania
Gabriela Ciobanu
Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, 73 Prof. dr. docent Dimitrie Mangeron Str., 700050 Iasi, Romania
Daniel Bucur
Department of Pedotechnics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Iasi, 3, Mihail Sadoveanu Alley, 700490 Iasi, Romania
Roxana Dana Bucur
Department of Pedotechnics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Iasi, 3, Mihail Sadoveanu Alley, 700490 Iasi, Romania
The initial characteristics of Romanian fly ash from the CET II Holboca power plant show the feasibility of its application for the production of a new material with applicability in environmental decontamination. The material obtained was characterized using standard techniques: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, and thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA). The adsorption capacity of the obtained material was evaluated in batch systems with different values of the initial Cu(II) ion concentration, pH, adsorbent dose, and contact time in order to optimize the adsorption process. According to the experimental data presented in this study, the adsorbent synthesized has a high adsorption capacity for copper ions (qmax = 27.32–58.48 mg/g). The alkali treatment of fly ash with NaOH improved the adsorption capacity of the obtained material compared to that of the untreated fly ash. Based on the kinetics results, the adsorption of copper ions onto synthesized material indicated the chemisorption mechanism. Notably, fly ash can be considered an important beginning in obtaining new materials with applicability to wastewater treatment.
