Preliminary Adsorption study for Heavy Metal Removal with Ion-Exchange Resins in the Teaching Laboratory

This paper reports on the adsorption of Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Pb(II) from laboratory solution by the use of Chelex 100 (C100) and Amberlite IRA400 ion exchange resins. Metal loading at initial pHs of 3 to 8 at 1-100 mg/L were studied based on Q max and K f values of the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, respectively. Lead was sorbed the most (Q max = 75.19 mg/g, at pH 6), followed by Cu (Q max = 58.07 mg/g, at pH 5) with C100 and Cr (Q max = 49.02 mg/g at pH 4) with IRA400. Overall adsorption capacity were as follows: Pb(II) > Cu(II) > Cr(VI) and dependent on the initial pHs.