Removal of Ni (II) ions from aqueous solutions using Iron (III) oxide nanoparticles: study of kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic models

Due to the existence of industries such as stainless steel, the presence of nickel (II) ions in water and wastewater has been reported at high concentrations. Removal of nickel (II) ions from wastewater and the environment are of primary importance. In this study, iron (III) oxide nanoparticles were studied as an adsorbent for removal of Ni (II) ions from water in the batch equilibrium system.

FT-IR, SEM and XRD techniques were used to characterize the structure of the sample. To determine the optimum adsorption, the effect of important parameters such as pH, contact time, adsorbent weight and initial concentration were investigated. Also, thermodynamic study (Gibbs standard energy variations, enthalpy and entropy), isothermal studies (absorption capacity) and kinetic studies (absorbent effect with time) were investigated.

The results showed that the magnetic adsorbent had the highest removal efficiency of nickel (II) at pH 7, contact time 60 min, adsorbent dosage of 200 mg, and maximum removable concentration of 400 mg/L.

With thermodynamic studies, it was determined that the reaction was endothermic and the spontaneous process was controlled using the entropy factor (ΔG°=-2.7 KJ/mol, ΔS°=+165.17 J/mol.K). In order to better understand the mechanism of adsorption, kinetics studies were carried out using the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models. Then, Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were investigated to determine the adsorption capacity, and it was found that the adsorption data were well fitted to Freundlich model and the maximum adsorption capacity was 43.5 mg/g, which indicated high adsorption capacity and its multi-layers.Then, Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were investigated and it was found that the adsorption data were well fitted to Freundlich model and maximum adsorption capacity (qmax=43.5 mg/g) was obtained which indicates good adsorption capacity of adsorbent and its multi-layers.