Analysis Of Metal Interactions In The ‎simultaneous Adsorption Of Ni(ii), Cu(ii) ‎and Cd(ii) On Olive Stones Activated ‎carbon

This article reports the synergistic and inhibitory adsorption ‎effects involved in the multicomponent removal of heavy metal ‎ions (Cu(II), Ni(II), Cd(II)) from binary systems using olive stones ‎activated carbon (COSAC) as adsorbent. In order to evaluate the ‎adsorption capacity of COSAC to remove studied heavy metals, ‎adsorption isotherms of single and binary systems were ‎conducted. Mono-solute adsorption isotherms fitted into ‎Langmuir and Sips model and the maximum adsorption capacity ‎of COSAC decreased in the order: Cd(II)>Ni(II)>Cu(II). In ‎binary systems the effect of initial concentration of interfering ‎metal ions on the removal of target ones was studied. Different ‎mutual interactions between metals ions dealing to the decrease ‎and the enhancement of inhibitory and synergistic effects were ‎detected. Results showed that the effects on the adsorption of the ‎metal ions of the binary mixture strongly depend on the initial ‎concentration of both metal ions in the solution. In most of the ‎sceneries studied the sum of total amount of metal ions sorbed ‎was higher than the sum of the ones obtained in single solutions ‎suggesting synergistic interactions between the two metal ions. ‎This study proofs that COSAC is an effective sorbent for the ‎removal of heavy metals from multicomponent systems. ‎