Adsorption and desorption of Zn(II) and Cu(II) on Ca- alginate immobilized activated rice bran

Ca-alginate immobilized activated rice bran has been used for adsorption of Zn(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous solution. The effect of the pH, kinetics model, adsorption isotherm and desorption on the adsorption performance was investigated. Activated rice bran was immobilized by the entrapment in alginate beads. The adsorption strength of Ca-alginate immobilized activated rice bran was compared to Ca-alginate and non-immobilized activated rice bran. The concentrations of adsorbed ions were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The result showed that pH of 4.0 and the contact time of 120 min are the optimum condition for adsorption of Zn(II) and Cu(II). The adsorption kinetic of Zn(II) and Cu(II) followed the pseudo-second-order model with adsorption rate constant 4.9 x 10-2 and 3.14 g.mg-1.min-1, respectively. The both adsorption processes obeyed Langmuir isotherm with adsorption capacity of 2.03 and 2.42 mg.g-1 of adsorbent, respectively. The strength of Zn adsorption on Ca-alginate immobilized activated rice bran (86.63%) was more effective compared to Ca-alginate beads (60.96%) and activated rice bran (43.85%). The strength of Cu adsorption was 80.00%, 61.50% and 22.10%, respectively. The desorption of Zn(II) and Cu(II) showed that recovery percentage of the adsorption was 76.56% and 57.80% with the condition of using HCl 0.1 M as desorption agent for 1 hour.