Single and Multicomponent Ion Exchange of Silver, Zinc and Copper on Zeolite 4A

• Main Author: Ay, Hale
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2008
• Subjects: Adsorbents; Adsorption; Alumina; Aluminum; Aqueous solutions; Binary system; Copper; Detergents; Environmental engineering; Gases; Heavy metals; Mathematics; Phosphates; Physical properties; Silver; Toxicity; Toxicology; Trace elements; Water treatment; Zeolites; Zinc
• ISBN: 9798342518420

Ion exchange of heavy metals with zeolites is important in terms of different application areas. Industrial wastewater treatment and antibacterial applications are two essential areas that have taken great attention. While silver, zinc and copper are well known for their toxicity, they are also used as antibacterial agents in zeolites.The objective of this study is to investigate the single and multicomponent ion exchange behavior of zeolite 4A for silver, zinc, copper and sodium ions. For this purpose Ag+-Na+, Zn2+-Na+, Cu2+-Na+ binary systems and Ag+-Zn2+-Na+, Ag+-Cu2+-Na+, Cu2+-Zn2+-Na+ternary systems were investigated in batch systems at 25°C and 0.1 N.Binary ion exchange isotherms indicate that zeolite 4A has high selectivity for silver, zinc and copper with respect to sodium. All exchange isotherms lie above the diagonal over the whole range. Using the equilibrium data, the thermodynamic analysis of the binary systems were carried out. The thermodynamic equilibrium constants and the standard free energies of exchange were calculated as 340.9 and -14.5 kJ/mol for silver-sodium system, 40.5 and -4.6 kJ/mol for zinc-sodium system, and 161.2 and -6.3 kJ/mol for copper-sodium system, respectively. From these values, selectivity sequence of zeolite 4A was determined as Ag+ > Cu2+ > Zn2+. This selectivity sequence was also verified by the results of ternary ion exchange experiments.The experimental data were compared with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. While Freundlich model gives a better correlation for Ag+-Na+ and Zn2+-Na+ exchange, Langmuir model represents a better fit to the experimental data of Cu2+-Na+exchange.