Acid-treated zeolite (clinoptilolite) and its potential to zinc removal from water sample

Zinc compounds are important group of pollutants which enter water flows from industrial factories sewage. In this research, use of both natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) and its sulfuric acid-modified form as a cheap adsorbent for removing zinc from its solutions has been investigated. The effect of acid concentration, contact duration, pH of solution, initial concentration of zinc, amount of adsorbent and its size was investigated. On average, the maximum adsorption amount is calculated to be 91.1 % with contact duration of 300 min. By increasing contact duration, more adsorption is achieved. Results show that if the more zeolite is used, the more adsorption is achieved. According to results, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were investigated and the adsorption of zinc by modified zeolite was described by both models very well.