Single and Binary Adsorption of Cu(II) and Ni(II) Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Sunflower Seed Husk

This research presents the possibility of using sunflower seed husk as an adsorbent for the removal of Cu+2 and Ni+2 ions from simulated aqueous solution. A series of experiments were carried out in a batch reactor to obtain equilibrium data for adsorption of single and binary metal solutions. Experiments parameters such as pH, sorbent dosage, contact time, agitation speed and initial metal ions concentration were studied to optimize the best conditions. The results showed that the best parameters were evaluated to be 5, 7g/l, 120 min, 175rpm and 10mg/l for both ions, respectively. At these parameters, the monolayer adsorption capacity calculated from Langmuir model was obtained 23.4940, 11.3051 mg/g for Cu+2 and Ni+2 ions, respectively in single component system and it decreased to 18.6962, 9.2366 mg/g for binary component system, respectively and the sequence for metal ions removal in single and binary systems was Cu(II) > Ni(II) with 92.5% and 84.8% maximum removal efficiencies. Kinetic studies showed that a pseudo second order model was more suitable than the pseudo first order model.