Removal of copper (II) from aqueous solutions by adsorption onto granular activated carbon in the presence of competitor ions

In this work, the removal of copper from an aqueous solution by granular activated carbon (GAC) in the presence of competitor ions was studied. A batch adsorption was carried out and different parameters such as pH, contact time, initial copper concentration and competitor ions concentration were changed to determine the optimum conditions for adsorption. The optimum pH required for maximum adsorption was found to be 4.5 for copper. Equilibrium was evaluated at 144 h at room temperature. The removal efficiency of Cu(II) was 71.12% at this time. The kinetics of copper adsorption on activated carbon followed the pseudo second-order model. The experimental equilibrium sorption data were tested using the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich (D-R) equations and the Langmuir model was found to be well fitted for copper adsorption onto GAC. The maximum adsorption capacity of the adsorbent for Cu(II) was calculated from the Langmuir isotherm and found to be 7.03 mg/g. Subsequently, the removal of copper by granular activated carbon in the presence of Ag1+ and Mn2+ as competitor ions was investigated. The removal efficiency of Cu(II) ions without the presence of the competitor ions was 46% at 6 h, while the removal efficiency of Cu(II) ions in the presence of competitor ions, Ag1+ and Mn2+ , was 34.76% and 31.73%, respectively.