Sorption and Ion Exchange Behaviour of Natural Zeolite Packing

Abstract

It is well known that zeolite is an efficient metal ions adsorbent. The excess charge of the zeolite b u lding blocks i.e. (AlO4) -5 and (SiO4) -4 creating a negative surface charge that attract me tal cations. Beside the surface charge, zeolite als o has three dimensional pore structure and reasonably large surface area which also can be used as adsor ption sites. Ease of cation uptake make it suitable for many process with adsorption and desorption application. This st udy was conducted to observe the sorption and ion exchange behaviour of zeolite-betonite rings toward iron and cobalt cations. The results shows that the adsorption patterns foll ow Langmuir isotherm with the highest uptake capaci ty is 59,9 mg/g for Fe(II) and 57. 8 mg/g for Co(II).