Zirconium-Ferrite Nanoparticles As Improved Adsorbent for Co2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+: Thermodynamic and Kinetic Studies

Nanostructured zirconium ferrite with improved surface area of 392 m 2 /g has been found to show high adsorption affinity for Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , and Zn 2+ . The adsorption was found to be greatly dependent on pH and the maximum adsorption was found at pH 6. The adsorption trends were found to be best fitted with Langmuir adsorption isotherm with regression coefficient ( R 2 ) value of 0.999, 0.998, and 0.999 for Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , and Zn 2+ , respectively, at 288 K. The values of X m and K L were calculated and showed the maximum adsorption capacities towards Cu 2+ and minimum adsorption of Co 2+ under the optimized pH, contact time, concentration of adsorbate, adsorbent dose, and temperature. The values of thermodynamic parameters Δ H °, Δ S °, and Δ G ° were calculated and showed that the adsorption of Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , and Zn 2+ on ZFNPs takes place through weak van der Waals interaction. Further, the adsorption of Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , and Zn 2+ on ZFNPs was found to follow the pseudo–second–order kinetics.