Abstract

BLANCO FLORES, Alien et al. Lead (II) removal in volcanic glass and proposal for an adsorber by contact. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambient [online]. 2014, vol.30, n.2, pp.167-175. ISSN 0188-4999.

Cuban volcanic glass was used to study the process of sorption of Pb (II) from aqueous solutions. To evaluate the removal efficiency of the metallic ion we considered the contact time and the initial concentration of adsorbate. The sorption kinetics was described with the pseudo second-order model. This result indicated that the mechanism of adsorption was through chemisorption on the Cuban mineral. The results showed that the removal of Pb (II) was better described with the Langmuir model. The largest ion adsorption capacity was 0.67 mmol/g, greater than that demonstrated by other materials but below the adsorption of Cu (II) by volcanic glass. The design of adsorber by contact showed that less quantity of adsorbent is needed when conducting the experiment in countercurrent flow with respect to the single stage design and crossflow.

Keywords : pollution; heavy metals; adsorption; Cuban volcanic glass.