Adsorption of Nickel and Chromium From Aqueous Solutions Using Copper Oxide Nanoparticles: Adsorption Isotherms, Kinetic Modeling, and Thermodynamic Studies

The research was conducted with an aim to assess the efficiency of copper oxide nanoparticles as an adsorbent to remove Ni and Cr. The effect of pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, initial concentration of metals (Ni and Cr) on the adsorption rate was evaluated and removal of these elements from aqueous solutions was measured using Atomic Absorption Spectrum System (Conter AA700). Moreover, the kinetic and isotherm besides thermodynamic adsorption models were assessed. The highest Ni and Cr removal rate occurred at an optimal pH of 7, and an initial concentration of 30 mg/L, a time period of 30 minutes, and 1 g/L of copper oxide nanoparticles. In fact, with the increase of adsorbent dosage and contact time, the removal efficiency increased and with initial concentration increase of Ni and Cr ions, the removal efficiency reduced. The correlation coefficient of isotherm models viz. Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Redlich-Peterson, and Koble-Corrigan showed that Ni and Cr adsorption via copper oxide nanoparticles better follows the Langmuir model in relation to other models. The results showed that kinetic adsorption of Ni and Cr via copper oxide nanoparticles follows the second order pseudo model with correlation coefficients above 0.99. In addition, the achieved thermodynamic constants revealed that the adsorption process of metals (i.e., Ni and Cr) via copper oxide nanoparticles was endothermic and spontaneous and the reaction enthalpy values for these metals were 17.727 and 11.862 kJ/mol, respectively. In conclusion, copper oxide nanoparticles can be used as effective and environmentally compatible adsorbents to remove Ni and Cr ions from the aqueous solutions