2012) Efficient removal of humic acid in aqueous solution using polyaniline adsorbent, Desalination and Water Treatment, 40:1-3, 92-99, A B S T R AC TPolyaniline adsorbent prepared by chemical oxidation was developed to remove the humic acid (HA) in aqueous solution. The adsorbents showed the high adsorption capacity for aqueous HA with the maximum adsorption amount 126.58 mg g −1 , and the adsorption isotherm obeyed the Langmuir model. The adsorption kinetics followed an initial diffusion-controlled and then an attachment-controlled adsorption process. The HA adsorption was not much impacted in the presence of Na + , K + , while Ca 2+ ion in aqueous solution can evidently enhance the HA adsorption. The HA adsorption on polyaniline decreased with increasing solution pH owing to the electrostatic interaction between imine and amine of polyaniline and disassociated HA. The HA molecules adsorbed on the polyaniline can be effectively desorbed in 0.1 M NaOH solution, and regenerated adsorbent can be repeatedly used in the subsequently adsorption-regeneration cycles.

Equilibrium isotherms of heavy metal biosorption are commonly correlated with adsorption models such as the Freundlich model. On the other hand, the adsorption properties of heavy metal biosorption are strongly influenced by the solution pH of the biosorption system. Therefore, standard adsorption models are limited to the correlation of equilibrium isotherms under constant pH values. In this paper, a modified Freundlich model was developed for the correlation of pH dependent equilibrium isotherms of heavy metal biosorption. The model was based on the mechanism that the functional groups for heavy metal interactions are weakly acidic groups and the uptake capacities of the biomass are affected through the association and dissociation equilibrium between two apparent ionic forms. Both the standard and the modified Freundlich models were tested with isotherm data for Cd2+, Cu2+ and Ni2+ biosorption onto pre-treated biomass of marine alga Durvillaea potatorum under various solution pH values. Regression analyses indicated that the developed model correlated the experimental data well.