Heavy metal contamination is a big concern of all environmental engineers and scientists. Adsorption is a simple and most common method to remove the heavy metals from aqueous phase. Zeolite is a porous material which has internal space and surface to adsorb contaminants such as heavy metals and organics. Zeolite can be classified into synthesized zeolites and natural zeolites. In general, the synthesized zeolites are high purity and diverse in structure. They also have variable ratio of Si/Al and cations. However, synthetic process increases the cost of the porous material. Natural zeolites usually have lower purity than the synthesized ones and have a limited number of structures. Natural zeolite can be obtained from zeolite ore with relatively lower cost. Natural zeolite can be used for in a wide area such as soil and sediment contamination where a huge amount of adsorbent is needed. In this study, synthetic zeolite A, X, and Y are compared with several natural zeolite collected from South Korea area in the sorption capacity and affinity for cationic heavy metals. The natural zeolites were mainly composed with clinoptilolite, mordenite, and chabazite. The cation exchange capacity was evaluated for each natural zeolite. The natural zeolite was tested for the adsorption of heavy metal from aqueous phase with those of the synthetic zeolites. The sorption capacity of the natural zeolite was lower than those of synthesized one. The sorption capacity was dependent on the composition of the zeolite and the capacity are proportional to the CECs. The effect of co-exist cation was also evaluated for the sorption of each heavy metal species.

Adsorption of heavy metals onto synthetic and natural zeolites

Where thousands of chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. Spring 2023 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch at the end of March.

ACS Spring 2023

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.