Surface Modification and Application of Mordenite for the Removal of Metals as Oxoanions from Waste Water

In this article, the sorption process of Cr, As and V as oxoanions using modified mordenite zeolite as sorbent has been experimentally estimated. The sample of mordenite zeolite was synthesized and modified and batch method was employed for analysis. Parameters such as sorbent dose, concentration of metal oxoanions in solution ranging from 50 to 5 μg/l and effect of contact time were studied. Equilibrium concentration of chromate Cr (VI), arsenate As (V) and vanadate V (V) was estimated by spectrophotometer. The sorption kinetics of Cr, As, V has been analyzed also. An equilibrium time of 6-7 h was required to establish equilibrium. The percentage sorption efficiency was determined for the system as a function of sorbate concentration. The maximum sorption ability of modified mordenite zeolite was found 74%, 88% and 98% for Cr, As and V respectively. Results showed that surface modified mordenite zeolites hold great potential to remove selected oxoanion of heavy metal species from wastewater. It was also noticed that sorption was better for chromate as compared to other selected metals. The experiments included studies on sorption mechanism (sorption or ion-exchange) and sorption equilibrium. The ion exchange was the dominating mechanism of sorption with modified zeolite.